


Little Thieves and Spies

by RedAmazon



Series: Nori's Daughters [1]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Comedy, Dwarves, Erebor, Family, Fluff, Humour, Matchmaking, Multi, Nori has daughters, Post-Battle of Five Armies, Sisterhood, cuteness, little bit of romance, more tags to be added later, very mild swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-03-17 14:36:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 41,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3533009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedAmazon/pseuds/RedAmazon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nori has four daughters. Four young thieves, spies and generally annoyances that the company, and Erebor, don't know about and, yet, are constantly terrorised by.<br/>Set five years after the reclaiming of Erebor (TA 2946).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ori and Dwalin Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first work in this Fandom. I hope you guys like it.

"I'm bored!" Rori exclaimed as she flopped down on the bed in her sister's room.

"By all means, make yourself at home. There really is no need to knock. It's not like I was sleeping or anything," Kori grumbled as she pushed herself into a sitting position.

"How can you dill be sleeping? It's lunchdime," Rori complained.

"Can't you go bother one of your other sisters? Unless I've been much mistaken these past seventy years, you've to others to choose from," the elder huffed.

"Lori is in the library looking for someding for Adad. I was with her undil she kicked me oud for being doo loud," Rori pouted, clearly feeling she had been wrongfully accused.

"And what about Tori?" Kori asked.

"She's the one who send me to boder you," Rori grinned in response.

Kori groaned and shook her head. Rori must have been really irritating for their endlessly patcient eldest sister to try and palm the baby of the family off on the least maternal of the sisters. It wasn't that Kori didn't like kids, it was just that she wasn't very good with them. She didn't understand why they didn't behave like mini-adults, even though they looked like them. Ironic considering she was an adult herself and yet still acted like a child most of the time.

"Come on. Ged up. I'm bored," Rori complained.

Ignoring her older sister's grumbling, Rori grabbed her arm and dragged her out of bed.

"Give me ten minutes to wash and dress and then we'll go find your sisters," Kori said.

"Okay," Rori grinned and promptly scampered off out of the room.

As soon as her little sister was out of the room, Kori flopped back on the bed with a groan. She doubted Rori was going to come back any time soon. Rori was a typical Dwarfling. Loud, brash and careless. It probably didn't help matters that she was raised by her three older sisters who were thieves and spies on a good day. As she was only thirty-two Rori had yet to gain the focus her older sisters had. Her attention often wandered from where it was supposed to be. Unless, of course, food was involved.

 

****

 

"Where's Rori?"

Kori rolled her eyes at the first question out of her older sister's mouth as she entered the library. She wasn't really all that surprised and it reminded her that she needed to get Tori back for siccing their youngest sister on her. Glancing around she took note that, aside from her sisters, Ori was the only other Dwarf visible. Their unsuspecting uncle was seated a few tables away from where Tori and Lori were.

"She's safe, don't worry," Kori assured her sister as she took a seat at the table her two sisters had taken over.

"Define safe," Tori demanded, her eyes narrowing to slits.

"You don't trust me? Why I'm almost hurt," Kori said, suddenly looking and sounding very innocent.

"Given that last time I left you alone with Rori I found you dangling her over the edge of a precipice, no, I don't," Tori growled.

"She wanted to know what it was like to fly," Kori defended. "Besides, it's not like I was going to drop her, just toss her to the other side."

"You do not toss a Dwarf," the eldest informed her.

"Then it's a good thing she's only a Dwarfling," Kori retorted.

Tori let out an exasperated sigh and decided to the matter drop. It was obvious her sister wasn't about to reveal anything. Growing up, whenever Tori had left Kori alone in charge of Lori or Rori, she'd always return to find some kind of mischief or calamity had occured. It led her to question Kori's parenting skills, which then, inevitably, led her to question her own. Never mind that they were both too young to be parents, really. It had always been glaringly obvious that Nori wasn't going to be the parent they needed to grow into anything resembling normal.

Kori was an enabler. She rarely started mischief herself, but when it happened, she would rather encourage it than try and put an end to it. In the rare instance that she didn't like the idea of what was going on, she would just ignore it. Kori was very good at putting something that bothered her, or should be bothering her, at he back of her mind and then forgetting about it. As a thief, spy and co-conspirator, that wasn't always a good thing.

"What's the Grumpy Oaf doing here?" Kori wondered.

The other two turned around to see Dwalin, Head of the Royal Guard and King Thorin II Oakenshield's personal guard, enter the library. He looked so out of place with his gruff exterior and scowly demeanour.

"Maybe he wants a book?" Tori suggested.

"I was always under the impression he was illiterate," Kori said without really thinking.

"Is Ori still in the library?" Lori wondered before Tori could tell her younger sister off.

"He is," Tori confirmed.

"Than that's why Dwalin is here," the youngest of the three stated without looking up from her book.

"Does he come here often, then?" Tori asked.

"Only ever when Ori's here," Lori nodded.

She finally looked up from her book just in time to see Ori blush and nod at something the warrior said before scurrying off down one of the aisles. A moment later he returned with several scrolls in his arms. He hesitated as he handed them over to Dwalin, his face a deep crimson as he stutter out what was presumably an explanation of which scroll was which.

Briefly, Dwalin's gaze turned their way and the sisters quickly put their heads together and started giggling in a loud, overly dramatic fashion, like they were Dwarflings with a crush. Out of the corner of their eyes they watched as the old warrior rolled his eyes at them and turned his attention back to Ori, who was still stammering and stuttering while blushing profusely.

After a moment the warrior seemed to take pity on the scribe/librarian and said something indistinguishable before gathering up the scrolls and leaving. The look of disappointment on Ori's face was almost as bad as Rori's. Looking dejected, and with the remnants of his blushing still hot on his cheeks, he sat back down and went back to work.

"Poor Ori," Lori sighed. "He's been pining after Dwalin for years."

"We should help him," Tori decided.

"Help him how?" Kori wondered, not quite as enraptured with the idea of aiding the Dwarf Guard as her sisters were.

"Well, fate needs a little push sometimes," Tori said.

"You believe in fate?" Kori snorted, always skeptical to anything she couldn't see, touch, feel or kill.

"She means we should set them up," Lori translated, rolling her eyes.

"Set them up for what? Murder?"

"No."

"Theft?"

"No."

"Treason?"

"No."

"Espionage?"

"No!"

"Grand larceny?"

"No! We mean romantically, you troll brain," Tori all but screamed in exasperation.

"Oh," Kori nodded, finally understand before a sudden thought occurred to her. "Ew!"

"Shhh!" Lori sushed them.

She looked around to make sure no one was staring at the three young dams that were making such a racket. Thankfully no one was.

"But he's our _uncle_. And it's _Dwalin_. Big, smelly, unsophisticated Dwalin," Kori whined, pulling a face to truly show her displeasure.

"Whom Ori is also in love with," Tori pointed out. "And who are we to deny love?"

"What if Dwalin doesn't feel the same way? Have you thought about that?" Kori challenged. "How it would hurt Ori if Dwalin did love him back?"

"Then we'll make him love him," Lori said matter of factly.

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way," Kori argued, but sighed when she realised this was a fight she wasn't going to win.

Normally she had no problem going along with whatever nonsense her sisters cooked up, but there was a line that she absolutely refused to cross and that was when matters of the heart got involved. Kori was by no means cynical, but she knew that when you played with hearts someone was always going to get hurt. Her mother had been a whore and the first decade and a half of her life had been spent in a brothel. She'd grown up watching the Dwarrows and Dams that worked there play with the customers. More than once she had witnessed the heart of some patron or another get crushed. She knew how to play those games and she knew how they could hurt others. Her heart had hardened to love long ago.

When she was sixteen her mother had become ill and everyone knew it was only a matter of time before she died. The brothel owner would have either forced Kori to start working to earn her keep or kicked her out, so her mother had sent off a raven. Two weeks later Nori turned up and took her away. She never got a chance to say goodbye to her mother and that was when her heart had started turning to stone. Although she gained a father and eventually sisters whom she learned to love, her heart wouldn't allow for anyone else and that was okay. However, it meant that when it came to matters of the heart her advice was ignored, which wouldn't bother her so much were it not for the fact that she had seen love fail enough times to know when it was going to hurt.

"I don't want any part of this," Kori announced, getting up from her seat at the table.

"Where are you going?" Tori demanded.

"To liberate Rori from the clutches of Dori and then get as far away from you two scheming matchmakers as I can," she told them, hurrying out of the library to do just that.

"She'll come around," Tori announced with more certainty than she felt.

"So, any good ideas?"

"We could lock them in an abandoned mine-shaft," Lori suggested.

"I said, good ideas, Lori."


	2. Ori and Dwalin Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pt 2 of the sisters trying to set Ori and Dwalin up.

"Whad are we doing?"

Kori glanced down at her youngest sister who was sitting on the floor by her feet. They were hidden in the shadows of an alcove on the corridor of the wing of the palace where the non-royal members of the Company that reclaimed Erebor lived. All day Tori and Lori had been sneaking things into Ori's apartments. They'd convinced Rori to be look out and Kori had come along to entertain her youngest sister while simultaneously keeping an eye on the other two. If Tori was the unofficial mother of the sisters, then Kori was the nanny.

"Watching Tori and Lori make a mess of things so we can laugh at them when they inevitably mess things up," Kori told her baby sister.

"But why would dey mess dings up?" Rori asked.

"Because they're our sisters," Kori said, as if that was an answer all in itself.

"Isn' dat offensive to us?" Rori wondered, frowning in concentration.

"Probably," Kori shrugged and went back to watching Ori's door where Tori and Lori were putting the finishing touches on their plan.

Barely a moment later the door opened and their sisters exited the apartments, twin evil grins on their faces. Kori watched in apprehension as they conferred a moment before splitting off in opposite directions. Whatever they were planning wasn't going to end well, especially if it involved Dwalin. The guard knew most of them as the young menaces they were back in the Blue Mountains and it was unlikely he'd completely forgotten their faces. Admittedly, back then they'd rarely dressed as Dams and therefore most thought them male.

Even if Dwalin didn't recognise them, they weren't supposed to be exposing themselves to Ori. It was part of the deal Nori had made with Dori long ago. They would keep their _'corruptive influence'_ away from Ori and in return Dori would keep his comments about Nori's pretty much non-existent parenting style to himself. Thus, Ori didn't even know that he had four nieces. Ori had played with Kori during the first couple of years after Nori had first brought her back, but Dori had put an end to it just before Tori appeared, as Ori had started asking questions.

There was no way that this was going to end without at least one of them being exposed.

"Whad now?" Rori wondered, staring off in the direction her sisters had disappeared.

"We wait."

"For what?"

"I don't know," Kori shrugged. "Something stupid, probably."

"Why don' we follow dem?" Rori asked.

"Because then we'll get caught along with them and then who will be left to bail us out of jail?"

"Adad," Rori answered without hesitation.

Kori merely gave her little sister a tentative smile. She was too young to understand that the reason she was being raised by her sisters wasn't just because her Adad was a busy dwarf, but because, even after all these years, he still didn't have much of a concept of what a father was. His idea of a family outing was burglarising a stuck up nobledarrow's home. Which is fine, until you get old enough to realise that it's not normal for your father to be using you to commit felonies. This hadn't been as much of a problem for Kori as it had been for Tori, since the younger was used to manipulation and back-handedness while Tori had been raised by good, honest darrows.

When Lori came along, Tori made the executive decision that she was not allowed to learn the family business like she and Kori had. Nori had argued at first, but soon realised he wasn't going to win. Lori took after her uncle and fell in love with books and scrolls and the songs and stories that they contained. Of the four sisters, she probably knew Ori the best as they'd spent years in the same libraries with the same books. He was oblivious to her, while she had watched him from afar.

"Uh-oh. Nod good."

Rori's comment brought Kori out of her reverie in time to see their sisters running down the hall towards Ori's apartments. Lori was balancing two giant axes in her arms, while Tori was carrying what looked to be leather armour of some sort. Kori let out a groan as she realised whose weapons and armour they'd taken, for the dwarrow in question was hot on their heels and looking not in the least bit happy.

"Get the door! Get the door!" Tori shouted to no one in particular.

Before Kori could stop her, Rori darted out of their hiding spot and raced to do as her sister commanded. Kori didn't even resist the urge to bang her head against the wall. They were all going to get caught and thrown in jail and then she'd have to bail them all out and explain to Nori how they'd gotten caught in the first place.

_'Oh, they were just trying to set up your baby brother with your sworn enemy. Nothing for you to get upset about. But, hey, Rori's first arrest. What an achievement. You must be so proud.'_

She did not envision _that_ conversation going well. Dwalin would probably have his thoat slit in his sleep and Dori would never let Ori out of his sight again. Tori would be sent to work under the insufferable and pompous Gloin in the Treasury. Lori would probably be sent to be a spy in the mines or kitchen or something, as long it was away from her books. And Rori, well, Rori would probably get away with it or have her punishment forestalled. She was still too cute to be so severely reprimanded, but that wouldn't last forever. Kori wasn't even sure she wanted to think of what would happen to herself.

Even though she wasn't technically the eldest, Nori held her accountable for the shenanigans of her sisters. Tori had Dori's maternal instincts that usually suppressed the mischief she'd inherited from her father. Lori was like a female version of Ori, but more confidant and self-assured. Rori was too young. It was Kori whom Nori had taught his craft to and expected to follow in his footsteps. The only problem was that while Kori was an excellent theif, spy and whatever else she needed to be, she didn't always want to be.

A stifled scream came from within Ori's apartments and Kori sighed. She set off at a run and arrived at the door just as Rori raced out, dragging one of the giant axes behind her. Any other time the sight would have been amusing, but right now Kori was more focused on making sure her sisters weren't strangled by an angry dwarf captain. Lori ran by the door and Kori grabbed her arm, pulling her into the corridor. A moment later Tori raced through the door and Kori wasted no time in slamming it shut.

"Why do I always have to end up saving you imbeciles?" Kori complained, as she braced the door against Dwalin's pounding.

"Because we fail at saving ourselves," Lori called back, rushing to help Kori.

"You do realise you just insulted yourself as well," Tori said as she bolted the door.

"Further proof I am related to imbeciles," Kori commented.

"I thought you said you didn't want anything to do with this," Tori said, ignoring the insult directed at her.

"I don't, but that doesn't mean I'm about to let you all get thrown in jail or die," Kori grouched. "What exactly did you think you would accomplish by stealing from Dwalin?"

"We needed to get him into Ori's rooms and for obvious reasons we couldn't exactly just ask him to accompany us," Lori shrugged.

Kori shook her head in exasperation at her sisters.

"Next time any of you want to steal something from the guard, for whatever reason, tell me first," she told them.

"Why?" Lori challenged.

"Because I'm the only one of us that's never been caught by him."

"You really want to bring that up now?" Tori argued.

"Well, when else could I--"

"Stop it," Lori broke in. "We can debate this later. Right now we need to move. If we timed it right, Ori will be back any moment."

Kori groaned in exasperation, but followed her sisters anyway. They hid in the alcove she and Rori had previously been occupying. It was just big enough for them all to fit, along with Dwalin's armour and axes. After a while Dwalin stopped pounding against the door and the corridor went blissfully silent. Rori started to get bored, so they let her play with Dwalin's armour. When she grew tired of that, Lori produced some coloured wax chunks, seemingly from nowhere and together the two youngest decided to redecorate the Head Guard's armour and weapons.

They'd been waiting for about ten minutes when Ori appeared with Dori at his side. When it became apparent that they were both going to enter Ori's appartments, Tori and Lori exchanged looks of horror, while Kori snickered and Rori was oblivious.

"We're doomed," Lori muttered, looking agast.

"No, you're plan is doom," Kori corrected. "Has been right from the start."

"Not it's not," Tori frowned and leaned down to whisper something in Rori's ear.

A moment later their little sister was racing down the corridor and nearly bowled Dori over. They were too far away for the remaining sisters to hear what was said, but it ended in Dori picking Rori up and carrying her away, presumably to return her to her sisters or father. Whichever he could find first. Ori looked after them and shook his head before opening his door and entering his apartments. Kori had barely enough time to process as her sisters ran to the door and bolted it again, locking the scribe in with the warrior. Mere seconds later they had their ears pressed against the door, desperately trying to hear what was going on inside the room.

"What you're doing is both creepy and disgusting," Kori said, approaching her sisters. "Our uncle is in there. With _Dwalin_. Big, old, annyoing, stinky, ungainly _Dwalin_."

"Oh, calm down. It's not like they're kissing," Tori told her, before muttering under her breath. "Yet."

"If day kiss, den dey have do ged married," Rori told them sagely, making Tori and Lori jump.

They'd been so absorbed in what was going on inside the room that they hadn't noticed Rori had returned to them after somehow getting free of Dori. Kori had noticed, but, then, she was Kori and, like their father, there wasn't a lot she didn't notice. The three eldest stared at their baby sister.

"I blame you for that," Kori said, turning to glare at Lori.

"There's nothing wrong with being a little romantic," the accused shrugged. "I think it's sweet."

"Let's see if you still feel that way after you've had your heart broken a couple of times."

"Oh, hush. It's not like you have any right to be cynical about this. You've never been in love either."

"I don't need to fall in love to know it would be more bother and pain than it's worth!"

"Quiet!" Tori all but shouted at them. "They've stopped talking."

They all had their ears pressed against the door in an instant, even Kori and Rori, as they desperately tried to listen out for any clue of what was happening now. A moment later a low groan came from inside and the four sisters simultaneously jerked back from the door like they'd been burned.

"Whad was dat?" Rori asked, all big eyes and innocence.

"Err," was all Tori could get out.

"They were kissing," Lori said, coming to the not so helpful rescue.

"Pretty sure they were doing more than just kissing," Kori muttered, which earned her a slap and a glare from Tori.

"Yay!" Rori cheered. "Dat means dey have do ged married! I ged anoder uncle!"

The three older sisters shared a look, but didn't say anything. None of them could bring themselves to burst their baby sister's happy moment. Well, Kori could have, but she didn't want to. She'd had enough of her sisters' misguided antics for the day.

"Well, since your little plan is over and done with and none of you are maimed, arrested or dead, I think I'll leave you all to get caught by Dori on your own," she said.

And with that she was gone. None of them quite realised the implications of her words until a very grumpy looking Dori with purple kitty whiskers drawn on his nose came stomping down the corridor, shouting at them not to move. They didn't listen to him, of course, and spent the rest of the day running and hiding from their usually mild-tempered uncle. Tori and Lori spent the following day taking inventory with Dori as, naturally, Kori was the only one that hadn't gotten caught and apparently Rori was too cute to punish.

 

****

 

No one noticed that Dwalin and Ori were late arriving at supper that evening, or that the young scribe was blushing more then usual and the old warrior had a look of smug satisfaction on his face. Everyone did notice, of course, when Dwalin's armour reappeared in the royal armoury, with drawings of pink, purple and silver kittens, puppies and horses on it, along with his two axes, Grasper and Keeper, that had suddenly become very pink and very sparkley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked it. Thank you so much for reading.  
> I'll probably be adding a chapter every Thursday or so.  
> I'm pretty sure romance and such than in the story, but it's fanfiction. It doesn't have to be 100% accurate. I've taken artistic licence.  
> Please comment or kudos if you liked it.  
> Thank you to avi17 and goldberry-in-the-rushes (thepottermalfoyproblem) for their feedback.


	3. Nori and Bofur part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori has an idea and Lori helps her. Rori becomes a spy for a day and Kori is bored of her sisters' antics.

"I think we should set Adad up."

Tori's announcement was met with stunned silence from her almost twin sister. After the recent success that was Dwalin and Ori's relationship, Kori had expected Tori or Lori would try to continue their matchmaking on others, but she hadn't expected this.

"In what realm of possibility does that sound even remotely like a good idea?" she demanded.

"How does it not sound like a good idea?" Tori challenged.

"For so many reasons. Tori, this Adad we are talking about. The thief, the spy, the--"

"The father," Tori interrupted. "He's made of flesh and blood, too, you know. He has feelings and urges same as anyone else."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd really rather not discuss our father's 'urges' with you. Meddling in Ori's love life was bad enough," Kori told her.

"Yes, but look how happy Ori is now," the elder pointed out. "Don't you want that for Adad?"

Kori was silent for a moment as she thought about how to respond. This could go one of two ways. Either she would be able to talk Tori out of doing anything to Nori by offering up someone else as a sacrificial pawn or Tori was already beyond reason and it really didn't matter what she said.

"I want him to be happy, yes, but it's more complicated than that," Kori said, speaking slowly and deliberately. "True, Ori is happy, but he is also hiding a massive secret from everyone. It is going to be hard on him when the others find out. If you set Adad up, and it wouldn't matter with whom, he'd also end up keeping it a secret. Now, I know he is the master of secrets, but that doesn't make right or fair. Either he or his lover, or even both of them, would end up getting hurt. Either when the secret came out or because hiding it from everyone was too painful."

"It's always cynical love with you," Tori pouted, sighing dramatically as she flopped down in the seat opposite her sister's.

They were in the Royal Spymaster's Office, but Nori never used it, the reasons being obvious. What kind of a spymaster were you if you could be found exactly where everyone expected you to be? So, instead, the two eldest sisters used it as a retreat of sorts. Rori would hide in the vents that distributed clean air and heat throughout the mountain and Lori had the catacombs under the library. Tori and Kori would go to the office when they wanted some peace, but were also near enough to come should their sisters need them. If they truly did not want to be disturbed then Tori would retreat to the baths and Kori...well, no one was really sure where Kori went.

"The true test of love is how much it hurts and how willing you are to let it," Kori quoted. "Tori, you are seventy-four years old. Now, I realise that is still relatively young, but surely you have to know better than to do this. You cannot be so naive as to believe that no one is going to be hurt by your actions."

"Don't act like you know better than I do," Tori snapped. "You're three years younger than I am. Surely that makes you more sheltered than me."

"I was raised in a whorehouse. I have never been sheltered," Kori bit out.

Tori had enough sense not to say anything else, lest she make the situation worse than it already was. While Kori was usually more grateful than resentful of the was she had spent the first fifteen years of her life, it was something of a delicate subject for her. Tori had never asked why. No one had. They weren't sure they wanted to know the answer.

"Look," Kori sighed wearily. "I know there is nothing I can say to change your mind, but please be careful. You're playing with people's hearts and this isn't me being cynical, but being realistic. It's only a matter of time until one of those hearts you're playing with breaks."

"I know," Tori murmured softly. "I should really quit while I'm ahead, shouldn't I?"

"Yes, you should," Kori nodded. "However, since I know you won't..."

She trailed off as she dug around for something inside one of the draws of the desk. After a moment she pulled out a piece of folded parchment and handed it over to her sister, who gave her a quizzical look before opening it. Her face contorted in a mixture of amusement and horror as she read it. Half way through she turned beseeching eyes on Kori.

"This is pay back for me bringing up Adad's 'urges', isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Kori nodded. "Keep reading. It gets better."

"Really? I can't see how," Tori muttered, but reluctantly kept reading.

Kori had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing at the faces her sister pulled as she read. By the time Tori came to the end she was looking distinctly green.

"I think we've discovered a new form of torture. We read our captives Adad's love poetry," she said, throwing the letter onto the desk.

"I'm sure it would be very effective," Kori snickered.

"Any idea who it was to?" Tori asked.

"Yes."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Depends," Kori shrugged.

"On what?" Tori demaded, eyes narrowing as she took in her sisters too-sweet demeanour.

"On whether or not you and Lori can guess," Kori smirked.

"What? You don't think we can?" Tori challenged.

"No, I know you can. I'm too busy to deal with you two matchmaking right now," Kori told her. "If you haven't guessed by the end of the week, then I'll tell you."

"Busy with what?" Tori demanded. "Nothing's been happening lately. Why do you think I've taken up matchmaking with Lori?"

"There is always something happening," Kori told her. "You just have to look in the right places."

Although they were both involved in the _'family business'_ , as it were, Tori's role was more administrative. She was Nori's right hand, which made Kori the left. No one looks at what the left is doing, because they're all so busy focusing on the right. That's exactly how to was with the sisters. Tori worked out of the antechamber of Nori's 'office', while Kori snuck around in the shadows. It worked for them, even if it meant that there was somethings Nori and Kori didn't tell Tori, lest it endanger her. Of course, Tori didn't know that last part.

"You have four days. Good luck finding Adad to trail him," Kori smirked and breezed out of the room.

"I hate it when she does that," Tori muttered to herself. "Now to find Lori. Hopefully she has a clue."

 

****

 

"Wait. You want to set Adad up?"

"Yes," Tori nodded.

Shortly after speaking with Kori she'd left to seek out their younger sister, who would, hopefully, have some insight on whom their father would be writing such atrocious love letters to. It hadn't been that hard to find her. She was in the library, as always.

"With whom?" Lori asked the question that was also weighing on her mind.

"I don't know," Tori sighed. "He's been writing poetry to someone though. Kori knows to whom, but she won't tell me."

"Well, that's hardly surprising. Kori's a cynic when it comes to love," Lori shrugged. "Did she at least offer a clue or a suggestion?"

"She wished us luck in trailing Adad."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Lori wondered.

While you could ask her a question on almost and subject and she became an immediate fountain of knowledge, Lori rarely ventured out of the safety of the library. When she did it was always either to get back home or help with whatever mischief her sisters were taking part in. She knew how to pick a pocket and a lock and all sorts of other useful little things like that, but she rarely applied them. She'd never needed to, since that was what they had Kori for.

"I'm not really sure," Tori admitted. "To tail him, we have to find him first."

"Well, that's a start," Lori nodded, seeing the logic, but not the how.

Sometimes, they wouldn't see Nori for weeks on end. The only way they knew he was alive was by the messages Kori delivered them. None of the other sisters were quite sure how she got them. "Maybe we could wish really hard and he would just appear," Lori suggested. Tori gave her a skeptical look, but was forced to admit that she didn't have any better ideas. So they tried that. Unsurprisingly it didn't work. All it got them was some funny looks from the other inhabitants of the library. Thus they were forced to think of a new plan.

"Whad are you doing?" Rori's voice broke their concentration.

"Trying to think up ways to find Adad," Lori said, pulling her baby sister onto her lap.

"Why? Is he losded?" Rori wondered.

"No," Lori shook her head.

"We just want to find him."

"Why nod ask Kori?"

"Because she wants us to figure it out on our own," Lori explained.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a light turn on in Tori's eyes. She had a plan. Or, if not a complete plan, at least the start of one.

"Maybe you could ask her for us," Tori suggested to Rori.

While she was usually against using her youngest sister, surely it couldn't hurt to do so, just this once. Besides, who could say no to sweet little Rori.

****

"Dis."

"What?"

"It's Lady Dis, isn't it?" Tori announced, looking decidedly pleased with herself.

"Nope," Kori told her and went back to her book.

She was lounging in an armchair by the fire, reading a book on crystal mining. The sight of Kori with a book was so rare, that Tori was sure she was reading for work, not pleasure.

"Were we right?" Lori asked, coming into the room with a very sleepy Rori on her hip.

"Apparently it's not Dis," Tori sighed.

"Who else could it be? He spent most of the day in conference with her," Lori said.

"Lady Brundi, prehaps? She was also with them," Tori suggested.

Kori snorted at the unlikelihood. Lady Brundi was Lord Gloin's wife and very possessive of her husband. There was no way she was going to have an affair with anyone, much less the Spymaster whose family came from the wrong side of the sheets. Besides, her sisters really were missing the obvious.

"I never said it was a woman," she told them.

The others shared at look before staring at her. While it was hardly unusal for Dwarves to have same gender relationships, it just wasn't a possibility they'd ever considered for Nori. Although, to some extent, it made sense. In a species where men outnumbered women three to one, most dwarrow weren't only interested in dams, as the likelihood of them catching the eye of one was fairly slim most of the time.

"But then how come--" Lori frowned in confusion.

"You didn't really think that just because he had to sleep with women for us to have been born that he was exclusively interested in the female gender, did you?" Kori challenged.

Tori and Lori looked away guiltily, while Rori began snoring softly. She'd had a busy day, helping her sisters follow their father around by distracting him whenever she could. Sure enough, Kori hadn't been able to refuse her baby sister anything and had palmed her off on their father. Nori had been forced to take her along with him for the rest of the day, since Dori was busy and he wasn't sure where Tori and Lori had gotten to. It had taken him three hours to realise they were following him. Never one to discourage his daughters from practising their skills, he had led them on a merry chase before dumping Rori back in their arms when she began to grow tired.

"So, you're saying we should be looking for a dwarrow, not a dam?" Tori clarified.

"Yep," Kori nodded.

"Well, this just got a whole lot harder."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it.  
> Part 2 of Nori and Bofur coming next week.


	4. Bofur and Nori Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of Bofur and Nori.  
> Really, they should know that resistance is futile when it comes to four strong willed, red-headed young ladies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all the lovely people who left me a Kudos or a comment. You are all amazing.

In the end it had only taken Tori and Lori a couple days to figure it out. Kori was glad she wasn't a betting women, as she'd assumed it would take them longer. Not that it really mattered. Their little guessing game had served it's purpose and she'd gotten the right information to pass on so Nori and the King could temporarily appease a sub-section of the Mining Guild that had been threatening to go on strike. They'd bought the council at least a year to find a more permanent solution. Hopefully the insufferable old fools would have enough sense to reach a common agreement with the miners.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Lori questioned.

"It's your plan," Tori retorted.

"Yes, but that doesn't make it fool proof."

Kori sighed wearily. If they could just get this over with she'd have at least a day to herself. That was the thought that kept her from knocking her sisters heads together. She hadn't slept in days and was not in the mood for this. Sighing, she realised she'd have to take matters into her own hands.

"Rori," she said, turning to her youngest sister. "Go find Adad and tell him Tori and Lori have gotten themselves stuck in a mineshaft. Bring him back here, but only him, mind you."

"Okay," Rori nodded and raced off to do as told.

"It's just like having a puppy," Kori muttered to herself as she watched the retreating back of her eager little sister.

"Where is she going?" Tori demanded, only just noticing that Rori had scampered off.

"To tell Adad to come here because you two got yourself stuck in a mineshaft."

"But we're not stuck in a mineshaft," Lori said, frowning slightly.

"Yes, but he doesn't know that."

"So you're tricking him into coming?" Tori clarified.

"No, Rori is," Kori said as though it was obvious, which it was. "I suggest we hide now. They'll be back soon."

 

****

 

Nori had been having the makings of a good day. He never liked to say that it was a good day until it was over with, as nasty little surprises tended to crop up when he did. Nasty little surprises like Rori interrupting a planned meeting with Thorin, Balin and Dwalin to tell him that Kori stuck Tori and Lori in a mineshaft. Thankfully Rori had only whispered it in his ear instead of announcing it to everyone. It would seem she was finally learning some tact.

Ignoring Dwalin's insult about using children as messengers, he'd left the meeting without offering explanation and followed his youngest daughter to an abandoned area of the mines. Admittedly he didn't find it wholey unexpected that Kori had thrown her sister's down a mindshaft and while it was worrying, he wasn't overly concerned. No matter what she might say to the contrary, Kori loved her sisters and would never intentionally hurt them, no matter how fed up with them she might get.

"Dey're in dere," Rori told him, pointing to an locked stone door.

"What did they do to make Kori throw them in there?" he wondered.

Little Rori gave an ever helpful shrugged and scuttled off down the corridor before he could ask her anything else. Biting back a sigh he opened the door and peered into the chamber, but it was too dark for him to be able to see anything. Really, it was foolish of him to let is guard down, regardless of who had led him here. He was the Royal Spymaster and really should have known better. That didn't stop him from letting out a startled cry when he was shoved inside the chamber and the door slammed shut behind him.

To his dying day Nori would deny that he let out a little shriek at the sound of a rough mountain voice behind him, that sounded far too cheerful for their current situation.

"So, I see they got you, too," Bofur said. "Very charmin' bunch of lasses. Remind ye of anyone?"

Nori narrowed his eyes as they began to grow accustomed to the gloom. The miner was slumped against the far wall of the small chamber, fiddling with something that was in his hands.

"I am not having the conversation with you right now," Nori told him and started banging on the door, hoping to attract that attention of anyone passing by.

"That's okay. Clearly we've got time. I don' think they'll be openin' that door any time soon," Bofur said.

 **"Yes, this is all very amusing. Now let us out,"** Nori shouted at his daughters, who he knew were eavesdropping on the other side of the door. **"We're very busy dwarves. We have important work to do."**

"Speak for yourself," Bofur muttered.

Since the reclaiming and being granted their share of the treasure, the 'Ur family had been enjoying their new found security. Bombur could finally follow his passion for cooking and was now the Head Chef in the Royal Kitchens. Bifur had a permanent stall at the market where he sold the toys he made. Bofur split his time between making toys with Bifur and occasionally spending time in the mines, but this still left him with much more time on his hands than he was used to.

"Do you mind?" Nori demanded, turning to the dwarf trapped with him. "I'm trying to get us out of here."

Bofur merely shrugged and went back to whittling the piece of wood in his hands.

 **"No!"** Rori's voice called through the door.

"Rori, please. Just open the door," Nori pleaded.

 **"No. Nod undil you dwo proclaim your undying love for each oder,"** she told him.

**"Rori, open this door right now!"**

**"No!"**

**"If you don't you'll be grounded,"** Nori threatened.

On the other side of the door Rori cast a worried look at her older sisters.

"Can he do dat?" she asked.

"No."

**"Tori says you can'd do dat!"**

**"Tori isn't always right, little one,"** Nori told her.

"He still can't do it," Lori assured her baby sister.

 **"No, bud Lori is. She's smard,"** Rori called through the door.

"What about me?" Kori demanded, feeling slightly insulted.

"Oh, you're smart, too," Tori assured her. "Or, at least, you can be when you want to be."

Kori glared at her, feeling more than a little put out. Anyone else would have called it sulking, but Kori insisted that thieves didn't sulk.

On the other side of the door Bofur finally put away his whittling and stood up.

"Here," he said. "Why don't you let me try?"

"Fine!" Nori snapped, already becoming thoroughly irritated.

 **"Little one, do you like cookies?"** Bofur asked Rori through the stone door, spekaing up so he could be heard.

 **"Yes,"** came the short reply.

 **"Well, my brother makes really good cookies,"** Bofur told her. **"If you let us out, I'll ask him to make you some."**

"Are you seriously trying to bribe a 'Ri?" Nori demanded, giving his fellow captive a look of incredulity.

"Well, I don't see you coming up with anything better," Bofur defended.

And he was right. Nori couldn't come up with anything better right now. The chamber was too small for there to be any tunnels leading off it, so the only exit was the door. However, they were in an unused area of the mine and if his daughters didn't let them out then it could be weeks before someone else found them.

 **"Do you mean dhe hard kind dat hurd your deef?"** Rori's voice asked throug the door and Bofur gave Nori a triumphant look.

 **"No, the gooey kind,"** Bofur assured her.

**"I don't like the gooey kind."**

**"Alright then. The hard kind."**

**"I don'd like de hard kind eider."**

**"Then you can have the inbetween kind."**

**"Okay,"** Rori's voice agreed. **"Do dey have nuds?"**

 **"Do you mean 'nuts'?"** he frowned, trying to understand her lisp through the stone.

 **"Dats whad I said,"** Rori nodded, not quite realising he couldn't see her.

 **"If you want,"** Bofur told her.

**"I don'd like nuds."**

**"Then you can have honeycomb pieces instead."**

**"I don' like honeycomb. It's all sdicky."**

**"How about blueberries, then?"**

**"Tori doesn' led me have blueberries. Lasded dime I sdained by besded dress."**

**"Tori doesn't have to know. It can be our little secret."**

**"How can she nod know? She's sdanding righd here!"** Rori demanded indignantly.

The three older sisters were in stitches at the conversation. They'd chosen Rori as negotiator because they'd thought it would be funny and they were right.

On the other side of the stone the thief/spymaster was trying to hide his reluctant amusement by giving the toymaker/miner a smug look.

"Like I said, you can't bribe a 'Ri," he smirked.

"No, you can just kidnap one by batting your eyes at them," Bofur retorted, his usually cheery demeanour beginning to evapourate as he started to grow irritated.

"Have you seen Rori? Not even Dwalin or Thorin could say no to her," Nori defended.

Back on the girl's side of the stone the sisters were silent as they listened in on the faint strands of the two dwarrow's conversation.

"You know we're going to have to test that theory at some point," Lori said.

"Not now, though," Kori shook her head and grinned. "This is far too entertaining to miss."

The others nodded their head in agreement and went back to eavesdropping.

"Why don't you try getting one of the others to open the door?" Bofur asked, oblivious to the fact the sisters were listening in. "I mean, they're all you there, aren't they?"

"Yes, but there is no point, because I know this was Lori's idea," Nori told him. "She's the only one that would think this is romantic. Tori is standing out there and doing nothing, so the normally sensible one is in league with the others. Rori is doing this simply because she can and Kori is an enabler. She's probably just along for the ride and is far too loyal to go against her sisters."

 **"Loyalty isn't a bad thing,"** Kori called through the stone.

 **"It is in this instance,"** Nori retorted. **"I'm your father. Don't I get some loyalty too?"**

 **"Of course, but there's three of them and one of you,"** she told him. **"Collectively their age is higher than yours, they have more limbs able to wield knives and more mouths to make threats with. Any way you look at it, they outnumber you."**

**"Traitor."**

"Meh," she shrugged, not really bothered by the accusation.

Nori may be her father, but her sisters came first. Nori could look after himself just fine without her help.

"Prehaps we should leave them alone for a while?" Tori suggested. "Let the calm down and give them a chance to talk."

"I wand cookies," Rori announced.

The others agreed and they left the two dwarrow locked in the chamber as they headed to the kitchen to pilfer the cookie jars.

"What's unromantic about being locked in a mineshaft?" Lori pouted.

"Do you really want an answer to that?"

 

****

 

It was evening before Nori and Bofur heard the voice of another living soul.

**"Adad?"**

**"Yes, little one,"** Nori called, jumping to his feet at the sound of his youngest daughter's voice.

**"Are you going to let us out?"**

**"No, I jusd wanded you to know I god my cookie now. Kori god id for me."**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what it's like trying to make a sandwich for my little cousin. I spent twenty minutes negotiating with him, before he decided on chips instead.  
> Anyway...  
> Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.  
> Another chapter coming next week...with Tauriel.


	5. Tauriel's Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lori has a big heart and her sisters are their usual helpful selves...

The feast was in full swing by the time Lori got there. She'd been in the library and had gotten caught up in one of the old tomes she'd been dissecting. Ever since arriving in Erebor she'd been aiding the small team of scholars in restoring the Great Library to it's former glory. It was quite the task and would no doubt take several decades, but it would get done.

Restoring the library was time consuming because many of the books and scrolls were too old and damaged beyond repair. All the information had to be carefully copied out into new books. This tedious process was only exacerbated by the fact that most of the information that needed to be copied out had been lost for nigh two centuries. Forgotten passages and alternate interpretations kept been discovered, drawing the scholars attention away from their assigned tasks as they debated it.

Lori usually worked away from the other scholars, but that didn't stop her from getting drawn into their debates. She would never say anything, though. None of them would listen even if she did. After all, she wasn't even an apprentice. As far as most in Erebor were concerned, she was unclaimed and without family. No one was willing to take her under their tutelage, no matter how intelligent she was. For, to dwarrow, family and clan meant everything and, as far as they knew, Lori had neither.

"Lori!"

She turned to see Tori stumble over to her. The elder's cheeks were flushed and she was giggling. Clearly she'd already been at the wine. Lori cast her gaze around for Kori. Usually her older sister was there to moderate Tori when she got into her cups. However, there was the odd occasion were, for reasons only known to herself, Kori decided not to intervene and simply sit back and watch her sister's drunken antics. Apparently tonight was one of those times.

Either that or Kori wasn't actually at the feast. Lori couldn't see her, but that didn't mean she wasn't there. Like their father, Kori spent most of her time observing unseen from the shadows. Adad was definitely at the feast, even though Lori couldn't see him. Since two, possibly three, of his daughters were here, he would undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on them, but wasn't likely to intervene unless something drastic happened.

"Where have you been?" Tori demanded, draping herself over her little sister. "You're missing a great party! Prince Kili arrived wearing a green scarf, not a blue one, so Lady Dis sicced Dori on him. Balin has been regaling everyone with tales of his exploits as a youth, which is both incredibly amusing and highly disturbing. I doubt I shall ever be able to look at him in the same way again. Between you and me, I think he may have fallen a little too far into his cups."

The last part was said in a rather loud whisper, that was no quieter than anything else Tori had said. Lori wrinkled her nose at the smell of wine on her sister's breath.

"I don't think Balin's the only one who's had too much to drink," she said.

"You are quite right," Tori nodded emphatically. "Gloin has been _'instructing'_ Gimli in _'the art of conscious inebriation'_. To me it just looks like he's teaching him drinking songs. I don't think Brundi has noticed yet or she would have stopped them."

Lori sighed. Tori became quite the gossip when she was drunk. It could be both entertaining and annoying. Entertaining because she said things she would never have otherwise, but annoying because it meant either one of her sisters, Adad or Dori had to stay glued to her side. Tori knew a lot of sensitive information and it wouldn't end well if she accidentally revealed something she shouldn't because she was drunk and loose lipped.

"Why don't we go sit down somewhere?" Lori suggested, removing the goblet from Tori's hand before she could take another sip.

"Aw," Tori pouted, her eyes growing wide and glassy. "But I want to dance."

"You can dance later, once you've had a chance to sober up a bit," Lori told her, gently guiding her to a corner where there was an abandoned bench.

"That would imply I am drunk," Tori said indignantly, trying to reach her full height, but stumbling over her own sleepy limbs. "Which I am not."

"If you say so," Lori hummed, depositing her sister on the bench and taking a seat next to her.

They stayed there for a while, watching the goings on in the Grand Hall. After a moment Tori started talking and began to divulge no doubt private information about various occupants of the room. Lori did her best to keep her sister's voice down and was mostly sucessful. At some point a large plate of food appeared between them on the bench, deposited there by either Nori or Kori, though Lori wasn't quite sure which.

After a while Lori tuned out what Tori was saying and began watching the goings on at the High Table. It was mostly the Company and their significant others seated there with Lady Dis and the occasional council member. However, her attention was caught by Lady Tauriel, who was looking rather lonely. She was stuck between Prince Kili, who was having a drinking contest with Gloin and Gimli, and Dwalin, who was not-so-subtly trying to fondle Ori under the table.

Lori's heart went out to the elf. It must be so difficult for her to be cast out by her own people and be forced to live underground when you were used to living in the sun. For centuries dwarves and elves had been enemies and there were many in Erebor who didn't take well to the idea of one of their prince's being promised to an elf. Few were willing to talk to her, much less be kind to her or offer her friendship.

"She must be so lonely," Lori mused out loud.

"Who?" Tori frowned.

"Lady Tauriel."

"How could she be lonely when she has the prince to warm her bed?"

"Tori!" Lori screeched, looking at her sister scandalised.

"What?" Tori shrugged. "It's true."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you have to say it out loud," Lori chided. "And certainly not in so public an environment."

"Why not?" the elder demanded.

"Because he's the prince and I'm pretty sure it's some form of treason to discuss the love lives of royalty," Lori told her.

"Ha," Tori snorted. "Clearly you don't attend court on the rare occasion that you actually leave your precious library. The love lives of the royals is pretty much the only thing the courtiers talk about. I mean, one has bound themselves to an elf and everyone knows there is something going on between the King and that Hobbit. As far as they're concerned, nothing is off limits to discuss."

Lori couldn't help staring at her with wide eyes. She tried to formulate a response to that, but none came to mind. Luckily she was saved from further embarrassment by the sudden appearance of Bofur.

"Well, aren't ye lasses lookin' lovely tonight," he grinned. "I don't suppose I could tempt either of ye with a dance?"

"Tori would love to," Lori said, shoving her sister into the dwarrow's arms.

Tori took a moment to glare accusingly at her sister, but she started giggling when Bofur turned his charming grin on her. Lori rolled her eyes as she watched her sister and disappear into the crowd with their father's One. She was still surprised that her plan had worked so well. Admittedly, she'd forgotten that Adad and Bofur had been locked in the mineshaft and it was Kori that had released them the following morning.

While the enforced time spent together had solved some issues, it had highlighted others. Nori and Bofur had a lot of work ahead of them if they wanted to make their relationship work. Lori hoped they figured things out. She didn't want her Adad to be lonely. It was the whole reason why she'd gone along with Tori's little plot. Ture, he had his brothers and his daughters, but that was different. He deserved happiness in love as well as in family.

Bofur would be good for him. The former-miner's eternal optimism balanced out Nori's cynicism. Over the past two weeks Lori had seen her father more than usual, since Bofur had taken to spending time with the sisters in the evening. She'd also seen Adad smile more in two weeks than he had in two months. Bofur was funny and he was nice. It was hard to dislike him. Teamed with Rori, the two were a potent mix of cute adorableness and sweet, cheeky smiles. No one could say no to them and they could bring a smile to anyone's face.

Movement at the head table caught Lori's eye and she shifted her attention just in time to see Lady Tauriel excuse herself. She tracked the she-elf's graceful movements as she left the hall. She kept her head held high and her back straight, but Lori could see the facade was beginning to crumble. The young scholar couldn't imagine what it must be like to live in an environment not natural to her own, surrounded by a people whom you were raised to believe were inferior to you.

As if sensing eye on her, Lady Tauriel turned her head and caught Lori's gaze. Their eyes locked for a moment and in that time Lori decided that the she-elf needed a friend. She gave a tentative smile and offered a small wave. Tauriel's eyes flickered with confusion, but the corner of her lips twitched and she gently inclined her head before she disappeared from view.

"Well, that's a start. I need more research," Lori decided and headed to the library to do just that.

 

****

 

"What are you doing?"

Lori dropped the potted plant she'd been carrying and let out a startled cry at the sound of her sister's voice. Sensing her sister's unimpressed stare she cringed internally. Cautiously, she turned around and found exactly what she expected. Kori was standing behind her with her arms crossed and awaiting an explanation.

"Kori. Fancy meeting you here," Lori said with false cheer.

Her sister merely raised an eyebrow and gave her a look as if to say _'Really? You're going to try that old trick'_. Lori couldn't say it didn't have the desired effect as she found herself stuttering over her explanation.

"You do realise I made it my business to know all about your little plan the moment you ordered in all those plants from Dale," Kori interrupted.

"You did? Then why didn't you come help me move them all?" Lori grouched.

"Because I had spy things to do," the elder 'Ri said as if it was obvious, which it kinda should have been. "Besides, I'm not actually here to help. I just thought I would let you know that Adad is getting suspicious of the amount of time you're spending in abandoned corridors of the Royal Wing. He's got it into his mind that you've found yourself a suitor. Tori and Bofur are with him right now, trying to convince him he's being paranoid. We all knew they're not going to be able to distract him for long, so I suggest you hurry up with whatever it is you are doing."

"I'm making a secret garden for Lady Tauriel. She looked so sad at the Feast last week that I thought she could do with some cheering up," Lori explained. "I can't imagine what it would be like to live among the elves without any of my friends or family. I know it won't be like her forest home, but at least it will be something."

"That's unsurprisingly sweet of you," Kori smiled. "I'm sure Lady Tauriel will appreciate it. I never knew elves could be depressed until I met her. She's an elf among dwarves. She has no friends here and I'm sure she'd be happy to have you on her side."

"She can't know it's me," Lori rushed.

Kori raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. While she understood and supported her sisters in their bid for anonymity, especially when it came to all their little _'projects'_ , she couldn't quite follow her younger sister's logic on this one. Nothing illegal was involved and Lady Tauriel certainly seemed trustworthy. It was one of the few instance where it wouldn't hurt for Lori to be known as the secret culprit.

"I'd ask why, but I can't really be bothered," Kori sighed. "I have work to do now, but I'll send Rori to help you. She can be the one to introduce Lady Tauriel to her surprise, if you prefer."

"Thank you, Kori," Lori smiled.

 

****

 

"Excuse me."

Tauriel paused and looked surprised to find a dwarfling at her feet, looking up at her with big innocent eyes. She was shocked that anyone other than Kili, Fili, Ori or the ever cheerful Bofur. No one else in the Mountain wanted to be associated with an elf, even if she was connected to royalty. She wasn't unaware of what people were calling her. She was the prince's whore and mothers would hide their children from her, lest she corrupt them, while council members threw their daughters at Kili with the belief that a good dwarvish woman could cure him of whatever madness that had seduced him into taking an elf to his bed.

It hurt that even after everything she had done for them and several years spent in Erebor that the people of the Mountain didn't like her enough to tolerate her. As kind and understanding as he was, Kili just didn't get it. He knew what it was to be frowned upon by others, as he was considered _'ugly'_ by dwarven standards. However he didn't know what it was like to be ostracised.

"How can I help you, little one?" Tauriel smiled, leaning down so she was closer to eye-level with the small child.

"I'm here do kidnap you," Rori told her before sweetly adding. "Please."

From their position in the shadow shrouded alcove, Lori face-palmed and Kori's shoulders shook with silent laughter. Lady Tauriel was also clearly amused, as she gave Rori a  _'you are just too adorable_ ' look as she bit back a smile.

"I am sorry, little one, but I don't think I can let you do that," Tauriel told the little dwarf seriously. "My Prince Kili would be very upset if he found out I had been taken and I don't want him to be sad."

"Bud you have do," Rori cried, her eyes growing wide. "Lori's been working on de garden all week. Id's supposed do be a secred surprise. You can'd jusd nod see id. I wasn'd really gonna kidnap you!"

Tauriel pulled back in shock. She was so stunned by the young dwarf's words that she allowed the child to grab her hand and pull her along without protest. Her stunned surprise was replaced with a soft smile when she was dragged into a room a cavern that had a large hole in the wall. Instead of stone or carpet, moss covered the floor and the walls. A gnarled tree grew out through the hole in through the wall and a young oak grew in. Flowers, shrubs and various other plants were around the chamber, some in pots and others buried among the moss and earth.

"H--How?" Tauriel stuttered.

She turned to look at the young dwarf that had led her here, but found the child gone.

 

****

 

The following day the young dwarrowdam was reading in the library when the she-elf sidled over and took a seat next to her. Lori glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, when she realised it wasn't one of her sisters.

"Lady Tauriel," she greeted.

"Mistress Lori," the elf replied. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Lori smiled softly.

Nothing more was to be said and they sat together in companionable silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, commenting, bookmarking and kudosing. I'm so glad you guys seem to be enjoying this.  
> Next week...Thorin has to deal with Nori and some little thieves.


	6. Father-Daughter Bonding Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori's idea of father-daughter bonding time doesn't go exactly to plan.

"Adad, why are we doing this?" Lori wondered not for the first time that day.

Nori had woken them early that morning and dragged them out of their beds without offering explanation. Tori had told them the day before that Adad had volunteered to spend the day with them while she did Adad's paperwork, since he refused to do it himself. Normally Kori would be taking care of them instead, but she was off who-knew-where doing who-knew-what for whatever reason she had not deigned to share with her younger sisters.

"We are doing this because you need to get out of the library every once in a while," Nori told his third daughter.

"But I do get out of the library," Lori argued. "I spend time with Tauriel in her garden and I play with Kori and--"

"Yes, but it's been a while since you and I spent some quality father-daughter time together," Nori interrupted.

"That's probably because the last time that happened it resulted in a landslide," Lori said, her voice deadpan.

To say Tori had been less than impressed when that had happened would be an understatement. While most of the eldest 'Ri daughter's anger had been aimed at their father, since, as the adult, he really should have been responsible enough to know better, it had been a less than pleasant experience for Lori and it wasn't one she was eager to repeat. Kori was usually the more easygoing parent of the two older sisters, but there were a few instances where she could become scarier than Tori on a bad day. Instances like the _'accidental'_ landslide.

"Now, you know that wasn't intentional," Nori sighed. "Besides, I thought we had agreed not to speak of that."

"No, you agreed, no one else did," Lori corrected.

"Well, not that it matters," the elder 'Ri shrugged. "Either way, I wanted to spend time with my daughter. You and I don't really see each other all that much. I thought it would be nice for us to do something together, just the two of us."

"Then why is Rori here?" Lori demanded, looking down at her very sleepy baby sister in her arms.

"Because she needs to learn the family business, same as you," Nori told her. "Now, hush. We're almost there and the walls are a bit thin in this section. The guards could hear you."

" _'The guards'_?!"

"Ssssh!"

They were currently in a secret passage way that was leading them somewhere into the Royal Wing. For reasons solely known to him, Nori still hadn't decided to divulge his plan to them. Lori was beginning to wonder if he ever was. One thing was sure, he wasn't going to be winning any father of the year awards. Especially not once her older sisters found out.

"Tori's not going to be happy about this," Lori told him.

"That's nothing new," Nori snorted. "Tori is rarely happy with anything I do."

"I wonder why?" she muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

They continued on in silence for a little while longer before seemingly reaching their destination. To Lori it looked to be little more than a rough hewn alcove in the wall. In her arms Rori yawned and blearily blinked awake. When the young dwarfling began squirming in her arms, Lori set her down and went back to watching their Adad struggling with...something.

"What are you doing?" Lori demanded.

"Opening the door."

"What door?"

"This door."

"There's no door there. It's just rock."

As if it had been waiting for the young scholar to voice her doubts, the stone within the alcove shifted and moved to reveal a small opening. The hole was too small for Nori, but Rori could easily fit through and, with a little effort, Lori probably could too. When their Adad motioned for them to do so, Lori rolled her eyes but complied. Resistance was futile at this point anyway.

"What exactly do you expect us to do?" Lori wondered as she looked around. They were in an ornate bedchamber that clearly belonged to at least a noble, though going by the carvings on the wall Lori was more likely to say a royal. She felt pretty confidant in saying that the chamber belonged to a dwarrow rather than a dam, though given the male to female ratio of their species that wasn't really saying much. The bed was large and plush and Rori had already managed to clamber up on it and was currently bouncing up and down. It looked like fun and Lori was tempted to join her little sister when their father's voice rang out from the secret doorway.

"There should be a crown around there somewhere. I need you to find it," he told them.

Lori froze at his words and did another sweep of the room. It wasn't until then that she noticed the royal seal on the armchairs by the fireplace or the crest of Durin hammered into the walls. In the end it was the ceremonial armour in the corner that made all the pieces fall into place. She recognised that armour from the last parade day.

"Adad, please tell me this isn't King Thorin's bedchamber."

Her plea was met with silence and she sighed even as she felt dread pooling in her stomach.

"Isn't it treason to steal from the King?" Lori wondered out loud, hoping to sway him somehow.

"It's Thorin," Nori said, brushing away her concern as though his words were an answer in and of themselves.

"Yes, and isn't he the King?" Lori demanded.

"Depends on your point of view," the Spymaster shrugged. "Besides, it's only treason if you get caught."

"I don't think it works that way," she sighed, but began looking around none the less.

She was beginning to realise that arguing with him was as futile as arguing with Kori. At least it was better than arguing with Tori. Her eldest sister would either yell at you until you felt like your ears were about to burst, or she wouldn't say anything and simply stare at you.

"I can't find it," she complained after a while.

Granted, she hadn't really been looking very hard, but, then again, she didn't really want to either.

"Try under the pillow," Nori suggested.

"Why would he keep his crown under his pillow?" Lori wondered. "Surely there are safer places for it."

Grouchily she began pulling back the bed covers, lifting up and patting down each pillow to make sure it wasn't there.

"Rori have you seen a crown anywhere? It's gold and a circle and it goes on your head," she asked, not bothering to look up.

"Do you mean dis crown?"

Lori peered up from where she'd been looking under the bed to find her little sister tangled in a mess of disheveled bed sheets with the Royal Crown of Durin slowly slipping off her too small head. The sight was adorable and it made Lori coo at her baby sister.

"Have you found it yet?" Nori's impatient voice broke in, effectively ruining the moment.

"Yes, Adad, we've found it," Lori rolled her eyes and took the golden circlet off her little sister's head. "Well, technically, Rori found it."

"Really?" Nori said, sounding far prouder than he should be given the circumstances.

Just then, Lori heard the sound of the door to the royal suit open and close. With a curse she jumped off the bed and sprinted over to the opening where Adad was waiting for her.

"Quick. Someone's coming," she urged.

Nori quickly closed the opening, sealing them into the passageway once more.

"Where's Rori?" Lori wondered, looking around in panic for her little sister.

"Errrm..."

"You don't know, do you?"

"Errrm..."

"Some father you are," Lori muttered, before a stray thought hit her. "Oh, no."

Fretfully she pressed her ear against the door. Nori followed suit and was just in time to hear Thorin's very grumpy voice.

**"What are you doing here?"**

**"Hello. I'm Rori and my Adad just stole your crown."**

**"WHAT!!!"**

Both 'Ri's inside the secret passageway winced. Yeah, this was not going to end well...for anyone.

 

****

 

"What would Kori say if she was here?! Oh, I know! She'd call you all imbeciles, because that's what you are! How could you think that you could steal the crown from the King and there be no consequences?! Of course you were going to get caught!"

Tori had been ranting and yelling and shouting at them now for the past three hours. While she had begun by berating her father for his _'inappropriate sense of an appropriate, child friendly, family activity'_ , she'd soon moved on to yelling at her little sister for being _'so smart, yet too dumb to realise what was going to happen and just say 'no!''_ before refocusing her ire back on her father.

As always, Rori seemed to have somehow escaped punishment. Being small and cute was useful like that. For example, despite being caught in the royal bedchamber after the King's crown had been stolen, instead of spending the afternoon in the dungeons like any other thief would have, she had a tea party with Lady Dis, Lady Tauriel and the rather unwilling Prince Kili. Once they were done having a wonderful time she was handed off to Dori to find and return her to her family. Now she was in bed taking a nap while her older sister and father were being yelled at by her oldest sister. Somehow that just didn't seem very fair to Lori.

"And to take Rori with you!" Tori screeched. "She is a child! You should never have taken her with you on this! Lori, I understand and could forgive, but not Rori! She is too young to be corrupted by the shadows you live!"

"Are you done?" Nori asked, doing his best to sound bored.

His position as Royal Spymaster came with a healthy dose of paranoia, but, ironically, not all that much fear. There was less than a handful of people or things he was truely afraid of and an angry Tori was one of them. An angry Dis was another or an angry Brundi. Angry Kori wasn't something to be taken lightly, either. Come to think of it, the only people he was really afraid of where women and wasn't that telling.

"No, I most certainly am not done!" Tori shouted at him. "Just wait until Kori gets back. I think I shall leave your punishment up to her."

Nori gulped. Not even a fool would get between a protective Kori and her sisters. He was doomed.

 

****

 

Two weeks later the Mountain was awoken by a terrible scream. In true Dwarvish fashion everyone reached for their weapon, but no one could figure out the source of the cry. No one that is other than the Spymaster and his four daughters, the second of which had returned to Erebor mere hours before.

Nori spent the next twelve days hiding in the condemned and abandoned mines, waiting and washing until the purple dye had left his hair. Coincidentally, that's how long it took for Thorin's crown to reappear, much to the Dwarf King's relief. The paper mache one Kili had made and Dis insisted he wear as replacement and punishment for allowing himself to be robbed didn't quite have the same regal gravity to it as his gold one.

The next time Nori decided to steal from Thorin he was sure to leave Lori and Rori behind and to tell Tori and Kori first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. As always, I hope you enjoyed it.  
> Thanks so much for all the kudos' and kind comments. You guys are awesome.
> 
> Next week...Tori's got an admirer.


	7. Tori's Beau Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tori is being courted. Her family is oblivious. This is what happens when they start to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A while ago I got a comment from Owlie the Moon that gave me the inspiration for a part of this chapter. If you've watched Tangled, then you know that scene in the town where these four little red heads braid Rapunzel's hair. Those girls are so cute and kind of look like the 'Ri sisters. Thanks for the inspiration.

As always, Kori was the first to notice. It was the little things. The way that Tori would smile at the most inane things for no apparent reason. How her sister's collection of jewelry grew from almost nothing to take up a whole closet in the room they shared. The extra time she spent on her appearance each day. The improved quality and style of the dresses she wore. How she'd look off in the distance with a dreamy expression when she thought no one would notice.

Kori always kept close tabs on her sisters, especially when they were all in a public environment together. At the last feast she had watched silently from the shadows as a rather drunken Tori had switched dancing partners from Bofur to the young dwarrow that had been staring at her every time he saw her since their arrival Under the Mountain.

Tori was being courted and, whats more, she seemed happy about it.

At seventy-four it was actually rather late for her to be courted for the first time. Due to their scarcity, most dams received their first offers of courtship when they were still children. Unless they fought tooth and nail to pursue whatever passion for craftsmanship that they had, most were married or at least betrothed by the time they reached their majority at sixty-five.

The 'Ri daughters were strange in that respect. They had been raised in seclusion with only a handful of people even aware of their exsistance. When they went out they were always shrouded in shadow. The less savory characters that inhabited the Blue Mountains' were acquainted with them, but knew better to approach lest they incur the wrath of a certain red-headed thief and his silent, shadow shrouded companion.

To her chagrin, it took Kori longer to realise that Tori was falling for her suitor's advances than she felt it probably should have. Personally, she didn't understand it. How could Tori fall for a dwarrow she barely knew? They had only danced once and had a handful of scattered conversations in the time since. Kori knew that. She had been monitoring them closely.

Well...more like she had been monitoring the _dwarrow_ closely.

As soon as she had realised his intentions to court Tori after the feast, Kori had spent three days following him. She shadowed his every move, eavesdropped on every conversation and analysed his every action, reaction and interaction. He never appeared to have even so much as an inkling that he was being followed. Kori wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she did come to realise by his love-struck demeanour that didn't ease up all week that his feelings for her sister were genuine and sincere.

Despite her personal views on love, Kori had to admit that Tori was happy and maybe, just maybe, things wouldn't end too badly. However, if they did, there was no length she wouldn't go to to punish the dwarrow that hurt her sister. That's kind of the whole point of having scary spyassin sisters, wasn't it?

Once she realised that, all there was left to do was sufficiently threaten her sister's beau and wait for their oblivious family to finally figure things out. Surely that wouldn't take too long.

 

****

 

Surprisingly, Bofur was the next to figure it out.

Well...

Okay, so, technically, he didn't figure it out, but stumbled upon them accidentally.

When passing an alcove in a hall he heard a moan and notice two youngsters doing something they probably shouldn't have been doing. When he went to break them up, imagine his surprise to discover who one of them was.

"Tori?!"

"Good morning, Bofur," she greeted the flabbergasted dwarrow a little too casually. "Please don't tell my father. He'd skin us all alive."

"B--but..Ye...I...He--," Bofur stuttered, but was cut off by the eldest of his lover's daughters.

"Thank you, Bofur," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I knew you would understand. You really are a dear."

Without waiting to give him a chance to respond, she grabbed her beau's hand and the two of them scurried off to somewhere they could continue their previous activity with less chance of interruption. Bofur was left standing in the middle of the corridor with his mouth still hanging open in shock.

"Well, that was about as entertaining as I expected," a voice announced from behind him, making him jump.

"Kori, you knew?!" he accused, whirling around to face her.

"Of course I knew," she scoffed. "You don't honestly think I would let just anyone near my sister, do you?"

"But ye' Adad--"

"Is so oblivious to lives of his daughters that he hasn't noticed that over the past three months one is love-struck, one has become best friends with the prince's she-elf and his youngest is already a master manipulator. I don't think that leaves him much say in the matter," she pointed out, before a mischievous grin spread across her face. "Besides, his reaction when he finally figures it out on his own will be hilarious."

Bofur was forced to concede that was true and he didn't really feel it his place to interfere in the relationship that Nori had with his daughters. Of the four of them, Kori was the one he had spent the least amount of time with. Unlike Tori who worked in the office or Lori who lived in the library, Kori always seemed to be off somewhere doing something. In fact, this was the longest conversation Bofur had had with her one on one.

"I must congratulate you on something, Bofur," Kori said.

"Oh, and what's that?" he wondered, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Other than myself, you are the first to take note of Tori's relationship," she told him.

"Really?" Bofur asked, taken quite by surprise.

The sisters were close. He'd always been under the impression that they shared everything with each other. Clearly that was not the case.

"Yep," Kori nodded, that mischievous glint returning to her eye. "As amusing at everyone elses' ignorance was to begin with, it is now wearing thin. Prehaps you would care for a little wager to make things more interesting?"

"Didn't ye Adad never teach ye not te gamble?" Bofur wondered, the glint in his eye matching hers.

"No, he taught me not to bet unless it was a sure thing. However, given the circumstance, I feel I can make an exception," she smirked.

"Oh, really? And, what, lass, did ye have in mind?"

 

****

 

Lori was the next to know. Or maybe not, as it turned out.

The four sisters had been sitting on the bed in Tori and Kori's shared room, braiding each others hair. Hair and braids were of great social importance to dwarves and it was something so intimate that only oneself or family could braid someone's hair. The exception, of course, being the Courting and Marriage braids.

While in the Blue Mountains the sisters had partaken in a weekly ritual of spending one evening brushing, braiding, playing with and then re-braiding each others hair. Since their move to Erebor, however, the tradition became a little bit lost, but for a reason the others couldn't quite fathom, Kori had decided to bring it back and had insisted they spent the afternoon together, bonding and braiding.

Kori sat at the top of the bed, braiding Lori's hair. Tori was in front of her and the young scholar was trying to make the braids in her eldest sister's hair look elegant rather than messy. Lori was better with books than she was with braids. Rori sat at the end of the bed and was trying to braid the hair on her doll while Tori, who was behind her, did hers.

Things were going well and they were all relaxed and chatting about the random things that were going on around the Mountain. Of course, that was when Lori made something of a shocking discovery when she went to braid the under layer of Tori's hair.

"Erm, Tori..." Lori trailed off, eyeing a particular lump of hair with concern.

"What's wrong, Lori? Has my hair suddenly turned green?" Tori teased.

"No, I was just wondering why there was a Courtship Braid hidden under all your mass of curls."

Tori tensed and was uncharacteristically silent.

"Tori?" Lori prompted, nudging her.

"Why would I have a Courtship Braid? Obviously you are mistaken," Tori said, trying to brush it all off.

"Nope, that's definitely a Courtship Braid," Kori interjected, peering over her younger sister's shoulder.

Tori turned to glare at Kori. She wasn't fool enough to think that Kori didn't know. In fact she was very certain that Kori knew, given the fearful way her beau would jump every time the shadows moved. It hadn't taken much prompting to discover that he'd been paid a visit by a very threatening dwarf, shrouded in shadows, who had given a very graphic description of what would await him should he harm Tori. That could only have been either Nori or Kori and given Nori's usual non-interference policy, smart money was on Kori.

"Oh, Mahal! Tori, are you courting someone?!" Lori shrieked, jumping to her feet and rocking the bed.

"What?! No, I--"

"You are, aren't you? You have your _'lying'_ face on right now. You are seeing someone. Who is he? What does he do? Do I know him? Do I know of him? What does he look like? Is he handsome? Is he rich? Are you madly in love? Are you going to get married? Are you happy?"

"Lori, slow down. There's no need to get so excited," Tori soothed. "I put the braid in myself. I wanted to know what it would look like."

"Oh."

"Yeah. _'Oh'_."

"So, then, you are not madly in love with anybody?"

"I do not think so, Lori."

"Oh."

The young scholar sounded every bit as disappointed as she felt. Kori felt the need to face plam. While maybe Tori wasn't outright lying, she clearly wasn't telling the whole truth and Lori was just eating it all up. Wasn't Lori supposed to be the brains of the family?

 

****

 

It was two weeks later that Lori actually found out when she accidentally intercepted a love letter meant for Tori. Suffice to say her reaction had been something quite spectacular, especially given that she was usually such a shy, quiet little library rat.

Kori and Bofur had stood smirking in a corner of the kitchen as they watched Lori really lay into Tori, before coming over to them and discussing bets on who would guess next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.  
> I hope this chapter made some amount of sense to you. I think I was half asleep when writing this because I don't really remember that much of it.  
> Once again, thank you for all you wonderful, amazing people for your really kind and positive comments and kudoses (I don't know the plural form for that is).
> 
> Next week...find out who Tori's been sneaking off with and exactly how Nori reacted when he found out.


	8. Tori's Beau Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gimli is introduced to the other 'Ri daughters and Nori has a not-so-nice surprise...

"You must speak with your son!"

Gloin looked up from where he'd been counting coins in the treasury, startled by his wife's angry voice. Usually Brundi refused to come anywhere near ancient golden hoard, fearing the Dragon's Curse. Today, however, it seemed she had deemed to make an exception, even if it was only to shout at him.

"And why is that?" Gloin demanded, turning back to his work and trying his best to ignore his wife's angry glare.

"What do you mean _'and why is that'_?!" she screeched, imitating his voice.

"Well, Gimli is his own dwarf and fully grown now, too," he reasoned.

"But he is still your son and he is hiding something from us," she told him.

"What could he possibly be hiding? An unseen fondness for elves?" he snorted derisively at the unlikelihood.

"No, I think it has something more to do with the love struck look he has had in his eye of late," Brundi growled.

Gloin stared at his wife wide eyed and blinked in shock. Surely he hadn't heard her correctly. She had to be mistaken. He and Gimli had a very open relationship. They told each other everything. His son would never keep something so important from him.

"You are wrong," Gloin insisted, glowering at his wife.

Brundi smirked in triumph at having riled her husband. As much as she loved him, it was always fun to annoy him. She especially took delight in his souring mood since it was his son that had caused hers.

"And what makes you say that, dearest husband?" she asked, her voice sickeningly sweet.

"He would have told me if he had met someone who'd taken his fancy," he told her.

"Are you sure about that?" Brundi gave him a large, sharp-toothed grin, that instantly made Gloin uneasy.

The last time she'd looked at him like that was when she'd informed him that she'd signed his brother and himself up to join the then Prince Thorin on his quest to reclaim Erebor.

"What do you propose?" he asked wearily.

"Tonight we shall dine in private. It will provide us with the perfect opportunity to question him on his recent attachments," she explained.

"I see," Gloin said, nodding along with his wife's words.

He knew better than to argue with her. His sense of self-preservation wouldn't allow him to.

"Diner shall be on the twentieth hour. Do not be late," she informed him.

"Yes, dearest," Gloin said dutifully.

"Oh, and bring your brother with you. I want some else there with a least a little common sense," she informed him, before flouncing off out of the treasury.

Some of the underlings who had been discretely trying to pay attention to Gloin's conversation were now openly staring at the middle-aged dwarrow.

"What are you all staring at?" Gloin demanded, realising he had gained an audience. "Get back to work!"

Diligently their returned to their tasks, but were privately snickering at their Lord Treasurer, who was so clearly ruled by his wife. Gloin sighed. Something told him it was going to be a very long evening.

 

****

 

Gimli was angry.

And annoyed.

And scared.

Oh, so very, very scared.

His mother had called a private family dinner to discuss his recent _'odd behaviour'_. He had spent the evening listening to his father huff in indignation and his uncle tell tales of his youthful conquests. To top off the very embarrassing evening, his mother had decided to give him _'the talk'_. Now, hadn't that been awkward. He couldn't very well tell her that he already knew all this.

Gimli had done his best to stuff all these emotions away as he had silently headed to the meeting spot he and Tori had agreed upon. He'd spent the past hour traversing tiny tunnels and wandering around aimlessly to make sure that his mother hadn't decided to follow him. It wasn't something he would put past her. He had taken so many twists and turns that he'd almost gotten himself quite lost.

When he'd finally arrived at the abandoned corridor they'd agreed to meet, he had let out a premature sigh of relief. It seemed to him, however, that the universe was out to get him that day, as no sooner had he regained his breath, did he find himself blindfolded, gagged and being dragged through the dark twisting corridors. He tried to fight back, but he was ashamed to admit that they easily overpowered him.

"Wad oo uo wond ith mi?!" he demanded around the foul tasting rag that had been stuffed into his mouth.

"Did you hear something, sister?" a feminine voice had asked.

"Must have been the rats," the other had sneered, her voice also holding a distinctly feminine lilt to it.

_I've been kidnapped by two Dams! They must desire me for how I so easily exude gruff, manliness,_ Gimli reasoned to himself. _While I am certainly flattered, I cannot give into them, no matter how they might try and tempt me! I shall remain true to my love. My Tori._

It was some time later that they had finally come to a stop. Gimli's relief was short lived for he was roughly shoved against a wall and chains were placed around his wrists. The chains were high enough off the ground and short enough so that he had to stand and couldn't sit or crouch. He heard the voices whispering for a moment.

_Probably thinking of ways to seduce me_ , he decided glumly.

A second later the blindfold was removed and the gag taken out of his mouth. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the small stone-hewn cavern he was being held in. As soon as he laid eyes on the three hooded figures before him began to curse at them in the most colourful language he could think of. To his surprise and disappointment, they simply ignored him and waited for him to finish ranting and raving to speak.

"Are you done, now?" the taller figure asked, sounding bored.

She was wearing all black clothing, with a black scarf wrapped around her head so only her eyes were visible. Instead of wearing a dress, like the other two, she wore breeches, tunic and gloves. Her clothes were tight and form fitting. Even in the almost non-existent light of the cavern, he could see her clothes showed only the best of her figure.

"No, I most certainly am not done! I shall keep shouting and cursing you and your ancestors bones until you release me!" Gimli bellowed at them.

"You can make all the noise you want," the second figure told him. "We are deep within the abandoned and condemned tunnels. No one will hear."

She was slightly shorter than the first one, but not by much. Instead of wearing all black, she was clothed in all green and wore a long dress with a matching hooded cape. Though the hood was drawn up, he could still see a little of her face, which, under any other circumstances, he would have called _'sweet'_.

"Though it would be in your best interest to remain quiet, since these tunnels are unstable and are liable to collapse without the slightest warning," the first one informed him.

"So, shud up," the third barked.

This one, though definitely also female, was the smallest. The youth in her voice and the slightness of her stature made him sure that she was still a child. She was clothed all in blue and her hood had fallen half-way off her head, revealing her blood red hair.

"Now, ladies, I know that I am a very attractive dwarrow, but I am not going to be falling for any of you. My heart already belongs to another, so you may as well release me now," he told them dramatically.

The three girls looked at each other then stared at him in disgust.

"Ewwwwwwwwwww!!!" the littlest cried.

"Whilst in-eloquently put, I have to agree with her," the middle one said, pulling a face.

"What does Tori see in him?" the taller wondered out loud.

"You know Tori?" Gimli stared at them in shock.

It shamed him to admit that it had never occurred to him that Tori might have friends. She was always alone when he had seen her and she was always so reluctant to talk about her family and friends that he had simply assumed it was such a delicate subject for her because she didn't have any.

"Yes, they do and they'll be knowing the earth worms next if they don't unchain you now!"

Everyone turned and stared at the figure that had just appeared in the door way. Tori was wearing her customary lilac and Gimli couldn't help but be struck by how beautiful she looked when she was angry.

"Tori, fancy meeting you here," the middle one said with false cheer, rocking on the balls of her feet and doing her best to look innocent, but failing miserably.

"We was jusd inderogading your boy-doy. Wand do join us?" the youngest asked happily, oblivious to the tension in the room.

" _'Boy-doy'_?" Tori queried.

"Id's a Kori word," the little one explained, causing Tori to look to the tallest for clarification.

"I don't see any way of answering that won't get me into trouble," the black shrouded figure shook her head.

"You're already in trouble! Damn it, Kori, what were you thinking?!" Tori yelled angrily.

"I was thinking it would be nice to actually talk to your boy-toy instead of have to stalk him to find out his intentions," the tall one, Kori, retorted.

" _'Boy-toy'_?!" Gimli squawked indignantly, but was completely ignored by the four girls.

"She does have a point, Tori," the middle one, who was still nameless to Gimli, argued. "You've been courting for almost half a year now and we've never met him. You haven't even told Adad about him."

"Kori, you promised I could pracdise my knives," the little one complained, tugging on Kori's arm.

"In a minute," Kori promised. "Just remember not to aim for anything important, like the heart, lungs, kidney or spleen. We're aiming to scare, not maim, kill or seriously injure."

"Enough!" Tori shouted. "Leaving my dwarf alone!"

"Oh, bud Tori! We didn'd ged do dreaden him yed," Rori whined.

"Do I look like I care?" Tori snapped at her sisters, before aimed a very pointed look at her dwarrow. "Besides, he already knows that if he ever hurts me I will be the one hunting him down and cutting off his--"

"Okay!" Kori interrupted, quickly placing her hands over Rori's ears so she wouldn't hear whatever Tori had been intending to say next. "Why don't we leave you with you two alone, now. Lori, Rori, let's go."

Without waiting for her younger sisters' consent, Kori grabbed their hands and dragged them out of the torture cell.

"You know them?!" Gimli demanded, staring at his beloved with incredulity.

"Eh, what you gonna do? They're family," she shrugged and busied herself with unchaining him from the wall.

 

****

 

Nori wasn't sure what was going on with his family, but he knew they were hiding something from him and he didn't like it. He was mostly okay with Kori hiding things from him, but when her sisters started doing the same things became less okay. Something had to be done about it.

It was with that thought in mind that he decided to come home early that evening, only to find the apartment abandoned. Or rather, almost abandonded. There were strange sounds coming from Tori and Kori's joint bedroom. When he went do investigate, Nori almost had a heart attack at what he saw.

Nothing, truly nothing, could have prepared him for the sight he witnessed. There was something that was just so horrifyingly wrong with catching his daughter in bed with the annoying, ugly, hairy, butt-naked little bugger that was Gimli son of Gloin.

"Adad, haven't you ever heard of knocking?!" Tori screeched as Nori stood in the doorway, gaping like a fish.

And so it was that Gimli, the Lord Treasurer's son came to be running through the Mountain, naked and screaming, as the Nori, the Royal Spymaster chased after him with young Gimli's own axe. The day was never forgotten, for it left more than just a few off the Mountain's inhabitants permanently scarred, in more ways than one.

Despite it being the day that he got to meet his beloved's family, Gimli would forever remember it as the worst day of his life. None of the 'Ri's would have had it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the love and support, I really appreciate it.  
> I will admit to being a bit stuck on this chapter, but I hope it turned out okay.  
> Thanks so much for reading. You guys are amazing.
> 
> Next week...it's just another day at the office for Kori.


	9. Kori's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kori goes through a roughly average day Under the Mountain...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!  
> Mild swearing, in case that offends you.

Kori's day wasn't like most other people's was. For one thing, it didn't start at the same time everyone elses did. Time inside the Mountain was measured differently from elsewhere. The hours were counted from dawn and dusk, so how time was measured depended upon the season.

She woke on the sixth hour and groaned before falling back asleep. An hour later she groaned again and rolled out of bed. Even though it was the middle of the day, it still felt too early. Despite the strong desire to crawl back into bed and go to sleep she forced herself to get up and dressed.

 

****

 

First stop: Food.

Really, the Royal Kitchens should learn to improve their security. It's all too easy to sneak in and out of there.

 

_Mental notes:_

_1\. Talk to Nori about talking to Dwalin and Bombur about setting up security for the Royal Kitchens (also get him to compliment Bombur on his new recipe for breakfast biscuits)._

 

****

 

Second stop: Check on the sisters.

As always they weren't that hard to find. Ever since making the secret garden for the she-elf, Lori was commonly found in Lady Tauriel's company. Kori stood in the shadows outside the doors to the garden and observed them for a while. Once satisfied that they were safe and content she slipped away without leaving a trace of her presence ever being there.

Next she went to seek out Tori, who was spending the day with Lady Brundi. Ever since the fearsom, older, redheaded dwarrowdam had forced her son to introduce his beloved to his family, the two women had grown incredibly close and spent much time together. Having seen what she did to Oin, Gloin and Gimli on a near daily basis, Lady Brundi was one of only a few whom Kori both feared and respected. Thus it was that she generally left it to her father to monitor the relationship between those two women.

Finally Kori went to track down Rori, which, once again, wasn't that hard. Ever since meeting him, Rori simply adored Bofur and had lately taken to calling him 'Amad', much to Bofur's delight and Nori's chagrin. Today Bofur was at the market, keeping an eye on his occasionally less stable cousin as they sold their toys. Rori enjoyed spending time with both of them and, sure enough, that's exactly where she was today.

Kori moved silently and unseen through the shadows of the market, splitting her attention between observing her father's lover and baby sister and the rest of the market. She spent less than an hour there and during that time she stopped three thefts and made added another two items to her list.

 

_Mental notes:_

_1\. Get Nori to talk to Dwalin and Bombur about setting up security for the Royal Kitchens (also get him to compliment Bombur on his new recipe for breakfast biscuits)._

_2\. Get Nori to convince Dwalin to make the patrols through the market less regular as thieves have taken to counting minutes between patrols._

_3\. Get Nori to talk to King about unfair trade prices set by Merchant Guild (no matter the quality, two gold pieces is too much for a steel fork)._

 

****

 

Third Stop: Spy on the council meeting.

Using one of the many secret passageways that were interconnected through just about everywhere in the Mountain, Kori snuck into the Governmental Wing of the Palace that housed the council chambers and, occasionally, it's members. There was a small flap in the wall behind one of the many tapestries that covered the walls of the council chambers. She assumed it had been put there by one of the previous spymasters, maybe a royal one or maybe a councilors or maybe by someone else's. Either way, it was there now and it would be such a shame not to use it.

She stayed for about half the meeting before growing bored and leaving, but not before adding more things to her list.

 

_Mental notes:_

_1\. Get Nori to talk to Dwalin and Bombur about setting up security for the Royal Kitchens (also get him to compliment Bombur on his new recipe for breakfast biscuits)._

_2\. Get Nori to convince Dwalin to make the patrols through the market less regular as thieves have taken to counting minutes between patrols._

_3\. Get Nori to talk to King about unfair trade prices set by Merchant Guild (no matter the quality, two gold pieces is too much for a steel fork)._

_4\. Keep an eye on Lord Celetrin. He looks like he could be plotting something, maybe an assassination (fun, but bad) or a coup (fun, but bad) or maybe just usual councilor's scheming (not fun, but less bad)._

 

****

 

Fourth stop: Dinner.

Freshly baked bread with soft creamed butter, cold sliced pork, goat cheese and berry sauce.

 

_Mental notes:_

_1\. Get Nori to talk to Dwalin and Bombur about setting up security for the Royal Kitchens (also get him to compliment Bombur on his new recipe for breakfast biscuits)._

_2\. Get Nori to convince Dwalin to make the patrols through the market less regular as thieves have taken to counting minutes between patrols._

_3\. Get Nori to talk to King about unfair trade prices set by Merchant Guild (no matter the quality, two gold pieces is too much for a steel fork)._

_4\. Keep an eye on Lord Celetrin. He looks like he could be plotting something, maybe an assassination (fun, but bad) or a coup (fun, but bad) or maybe just usual councilor's scheming (not fun, but less bad)._

_5\. See 1._

 

****

 

Fifth stop: Find the lost prince. Again.

It wasn't that hard to track him down. On Nori's orders she'd been following him often enough over the past four years to know his habits. Though he was by rights the Crown Prince and should be shadowing the King to learn and perfect the finer points of his future trade, Prince Fili tended to spend most of his days wandering around the Mountain, drinking in the taverns and hiding in the shadows where no one would see him.

Although he had survived the Battle of the Five Armies, as it had been named, Prince Fili had come out of it a little worse for wear. Though he hadn't lost any limbs, which was more than could be said for a fair few, his left leg had been completely shattered and although it had healed, it was weak and crooked, forcing him to limp about with a cane. An arrow had hit him in the shoulder of his sword arm and permanently damaged some muscle there, limiting his mobility with it. Half of his face had been smashed in when he'd fallen of a turret and hit the hard ice. Although everything had been fixed, the left side of his face was permanently scarred and slightly deformed.

While Kori could understand his reluctance to show himself to the public, she found it completely ridiculous that he kept that horrid blue hood that he never seemed to wash, since it was covered in stains and permitted a very putrid stench, even in the privacy of the Royal Wing. Only members of the royal family and the company had access to it, along with a highly-trusted select few servants. Also the four 'Ri sisters, but no one was supposed to know that.

It was just after dusk began to set in outside the Mountain when Kori found the Crown Prince staggering out of a tavern in a less than reputable area of the city. Normally she would keep her distance as she silently followed him to make sure he made it to his next destination in one piece, but today it seemed he had left some of the othe patrons of the tavern angry, because three strong, burly, dark-haired dwarrow followed him out. The murderous look on their faces made clear their intent and immediately Kori moved to intercept.

Secretly, Kori suspected that a fair part of Prince Fili's disability was psychological. Having watched him for over four years now, she had enough evidence to prove her belief correct. However, that didn't mean that the severely out of practise prince could take on three strong mining dwarves on his own.

The fight was short and ended with the three mining dwarrow knocked out and bleeding a little. Prince Fili wasn't fairing much better than they were, but at least he was alive, so Kori counted that as a win. Just as she was contemplating how to remove the bodies from the square and get the Crown Prince back the Palace, a patrol happened onto them.

"What happened here?" the guards demanded, looking around at the carnage.

"There was just a little disagreement," Kori told them. "These men are to be placed in the dungeons until either myself, Spymaster Nori or Guardmaster Dwalin come for them. They stand accused of treason for attacking a member of the Royal Family. Also, have someone escort the Crown Prince back to his cave."

The newer members of the guard turned to their lieutenant for guidance. They weren't used to being ordered about by a black shrouded figure. Luckily, though, the lieutenant had crossed paths with Kori before and knew she was the what the guard had taken to calling _'the Spymaster's bitch'_. Oddly enough, since Rori had taken to running messages to Nori when he was in meetings or around members of the company and council, she had also gained a nickname from the guard. They called her _'the Spymaster's pet'_ , which was considerably nicer than what they called Kori.

The lieutenant snapped at his underlings to fulfill Kori's orders and to be quick about it. Less than fifteen minutes later and the Head of the Guard had been alerted of what had happened and the Royal Prison had gained three new members.

 

_Mental notes:_

_1\. Get Nori to talk to Dwalin and Bombur about setting up security for the Royal Kitchens (also get him to compliment Bombur on his new recipe for breakfast biscuits)._

_2\. Get Nori to convince Dwalin to make the patrols through the market less regular as thieves have taken to counting minutes between patrols._

_3\. Get Nori to talk to King about unfair trade prices set by Merchant Guild (no matter the quality, two gold pieces is too much for a steel fork)._

_4\. Keep an eye on Lord Celetrin. He looks like he could be plotting something, maybe an assassination (fun, but bad) or a coup (fun, but bad) or maybe just usual councilor's scheming (not fun, but less bad)._

_5\. See 1._

_6\. Get Nori to get Thorin and Kili to get Fili to shake out of it, start attending his duties and return to training at the practice fields (maybe some lessons in personal hygiene wouldn't be a bad idea, too)._

_7\. Have that horrid hood washed (may possibly require being discretely replaced with a similar model)._

 

****

 

Sixth stop: Visit the Shadow Court.

Kori hated the Shadow Court. It was everything that was wrong with Erebor. The home of thieves, spies, murderes, whores, illegal merchandise and other such poisonous ilk. She was well aware of how ironic it was for her to dispise that place and all who resided there. If it was up her, she would either avoid or irradicat it completely. However, as it so happened, the Shadow Court was an excellent source of information.

As it's name probably suggested, the Shadow Court was in the shadow of the mountain and only came alive during the darkness of the night when everybody else was sleeping. It was also the only place that wasn't regularly patrolled by the guard. Technically it was supposed to be, just like everywhere else, but guards were either paid or scared off. Only a few that were recklessly brave would risk venturing into the treaterous streets while wearing the armour of the Royal or Mountain Guard.

An hour before dawn Kori had everything she needed from the Shadow Court and hurried out of the horrible place as quickly as she could. The Shadow Court was the one area of Erebor she refused to allow her sister's for a reason.

 

_Mental notes:_

_1\. Get Nori to talk to Dwalin and Bombur about setting up security for the Royal Kitchens (also get him to compliment Bombur on his new recipe for breakfast biscuits)._

_2\. Get Nori to convince Dwalin to make the patrols through the market less regular as thieves have taken to counting minutes between patrols._

_3\. Get Nori to talk to King about unfair trade prices set by Merchant Guild (no matter the quality, two gold pieces is too much for a steel fork)._

_4\. Keep an eye on Lord Celetrin. He looks like he could be plotting something, maybe an assassination (fun, but bad) or a coup (fun, but bad) or maybe just usual councilor's scheming (not fun, but less bad)._

_5\. See 1._

_6\. Get Nori to get Thorin and Kili to get Fili to shake out of it, start attending his duties and return to training at the practice fields (maybe some lessons in personal hygiene wouldn't be a bad idea, too)._

_7\. Have that horrid hood washed (may possibly require being discretely replaced with a similar model)._

_8\. Get Nori to get Dwalin to get his Guard to get over themselves and deal with their (admittedly not so) petty fears._

_9\. I really hate the Shadow Court._

 

****

 

Seventh stop: Report to Nori.

In the hour before dawn Kori found her father and reported to him everything that she felt he needed to know about what had happened during her 'day'. As always, she presented him with the list she had formed in her head.

 

_Mental notes:_

_1\. Get Nori to talk to Dwalin and Bombur about setting up security for the Royal Kitchens (also get him to compliment Bombur on his new recipe for breakfast biscuits)._

_2\. Get Nori to convince Dwalin to make the patrols through the market less regular as thieves have taken to counting minutes between patrols._

_3\. Get Nori to talk to King about unfair trade prices set by Merchant Guild (no matter the quality, two gold pieces is too much for a steel fork)._

_4\. Keep an eye on Lord Celetrin. He looks like he could be plotting something, maybe an assassination (fun, but bad) or a coup (fun, but bad) or maybe just usual councilor's scheming (not fun, but less bad)._

_5\. See 1._

_6\. Get Nori to get Thorin and Kili to get Fili to shake out of it, start attending his duties and return to training at the practice fields (maybe some lessons in personal hygiene wouldn't be a bad idea, too)._

_7\. Have that horrid hood washed (may possibly require being discretely replaced with a similar model)._

_8\. Get Nori to get Dwalin to get his Guard to get over themselves and deal with their (admittedly not so) petty fears._

_9\. I really hate the Shadow Court._

_10\. I want sleep now._

 

****

 

Final stop: Bed!

 

_Mental list:_

 

**_Who bloody well cares?! All I want is to sleep!_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. I hope you liked it.  
> Thanks to everyone who has given me a kudos or dropped a comment. Also, a special thanks to those who sent me a lovely comment last week. I really wasn't sure about that chapter but you guys seem to have liked it.  
> So, I hope you liked getting inside Kori's head for a day. Also, finally Fili in this chapter. I meant to bring him in earlier, but it never seemed to fit right. Because I hate it when character's die, I had to make him survive, yet, for some reason, couldn't let him come out of everything unscratched like everyone else.
> 
>  
> 
> Next week...I don't know. I haven't written it yet. Any ideas, anyone?


	10. Fili's Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit more Fili and Kori. Thanks for the ideas.

The welcome feast was in full swing. As with any dwarven celebration, there was plenty of strong ale, good food, drunken singing and raucous dancing. The Great Hall was filled with cheery music and loud voices, inter-broken with the sounds of fine metal plates, mugs and cutlery banging against the wood tables.

A delegation of dwarves were visiting from the Red Mountains, including their King, one of Princes and their Princess. Officially they were there to pay homage to the new King Under the Mountain, negotiate trade and strengthen relations between the two kingdoms. Unofficially, however, the King of the Red Mountains was hoping to wed his daughter to the King Under the Mountain and if that failed, then to the Crown Prince.

Despite the completely expected secondary political agenda, the dwarves of the Red Mountain were welcomed with open arms by their kin. And even though King Thorin still held a grudge against the Red Mountain dwarves for not coming to his aide in reclaiming the Mountain several years earlier, some less than discrete words from Lady Dis, Lord Balin and an as of yet unspecified promise from Spymaster Nori proved to be enough to make him at least tolerate the presence of the Red Mountain dwarves.

Having spent many weeks travelling across Middle-Earth, the delegation had finally arrived just after lunch. The guests were given the afternoon to rest and freshen up while the Mountain bustled to get ready for the welcoming feast that night. It was the first major political event that had occurred in Erebor since the King's coronation and everybody was excited.

Well, nearly everyone.

Crown Prince Fili stood off in a corner of the Great Hall, hidden in the shadows cast by the large, bright, flickering fire in the oversized hearth that brought the temperature of the entire hall to almost the same heat as the forges in the bowls of the Mountain. He watched the High Table in silence and observed how rigid his uncle was in his seat next to the Lord of the Red Mountains. Once upon a time Fili would have cracked a joke from his seat next to his uncle, doing something to ease the tension between the two.

 _Once upon a time when I wasn't an ugly deformed monster_ , he thought bitterly.

"You know, hiding in the shadows is very unbecoming of a prince," a smooth voice came from behind him.

Fili didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Over the past two months she had been following him around, chasing into attending meetings and socialising with his family. Always hidden, shrouded in the shadows. He didn't know her name or who she was, but he suspected she had something to do with Nori, who had taken to giving him an evil smirk whenever they saw each other.

"As if you're any better. You're hiding, too," he retorted.

"Yes, but there's a difference. It's my job to live in the shadows, whereas yours is to learn how to rule and that is something that cannot be done from the sidelines," she told him.

"Doesn't it ever get lonely, living surrounded by shadows?" he wondered.

She paused and seemed to be thinking about it for a moment, but when she answered her voice held no hesitation.

"Rarely," she admitted. "There is a whole world there that few people think to look at. If you play things right, you can wield just as much, if not more, power than a King."

"That's a disturbing thought," Fili commented.

"Yes, it is," she agreed. "It is also the reason why I do what I do. There has to be a line somewhere and that line can't be allowed to blur."

"I suppose not," he conceded.

They were silent for a little while, each seemingly absorbed in their own thoughts. The sound of his brother's laughter drew Fili's attention to large space that had been cleared in the middle of the Hall for dancing. Kili was in the middle of the floor doing a very silly dance with the Red Mountain's Princess, who was beginning to look more and more frustrated. A small smile played on Fili's lips.

"Why aren't you dancing?" she asked after a moment.

Fili gave a little start, only just remembering that he wasn't alone.

"Have you seen me? No one would want to dance with me," he said, shaking his head. "Men think me ugly and women find me repulsive. Children are scared of me and animals shy away. No one wants to be around me and for good reason."

"To be fair, I think that has more to do with the smell than you," she joked. "But what does that make me?"

"What do you mean?" he frowned.

"Well, I'm a woman and I don't find you repulsive. Nor do I think you ugly or scary and I don't shy away from you. I think you are you and you shouldn't have to care what other people think of you. You are going to be King one day, Fili. They will have to get used to how you look sooner or later," she told her, the sincerity in her voice taking him by surprise.

"In that case, I choose later," he said.

"Later may not be an option for much longer," she said quietly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"Do you really not pay attention to anything that goes on around you?" she snapped in annoyance. "Everyday your uncle sits on his throne breaks his heart a little bit more. His One is on the other side of the world. Hobbits don't belong under mountains and Thorin Oakenshield beginning to wonder if he belongs on the throne. Over the next decade he is either going to die of heartbreak or step down and if he does then who shall be King in his stead? The drunken misfit, whom the Lords don't know and trust enough to follow or prehaps the elf-lover who's children, should there be any, would be half-breeds. At the moment the only thing keeping your uncle relatively sane is his sense of duty, but that won't last forever. So, when the time comes, who will you be? Fili the Crown Prince or Fili the Drunk."

Fili was silent as he allowed her words to sink in. His gaze landed on the High Table where his uncle was seated and for the first time far too long, Fili studied his uncle. Thorin's once raven hair was now almost completely grey. There were over a dozen more lines on his face, aging him terribly. The dull spark in his eye that had brighten upon the reclaiming of Erebor was no longer there. His posture still radiated power and strength, but not as much as it once did. Now that his attention had been drawn to it, Fili noticed how drawn and tired his uncle looked. Though he was loath to admit it, she was right.

"If I were to ask you to dance, would you?" she wondered aloud breaking him out of his train of thought.

"I thought you don't dance," he said, intentionally avoiding the question.

"Just because I don't doesn't mean I can't," she informed him curtly. "And you haven't answered my question."

"You wouldn't want to dance with me," he said with conviction.

"That's for me to decide," she said. "Now stop avoiding the question and answer properly."

"I think I'm going to get some more mead," he announced.

Without giving her a chance to protest he hobbled away as quickly as he could.

"One day, princeling, you will dance with me," she said softly to his retreating back, but he was too far away to hear her.

 

****

 

As a general rule, Kori did not look forward to, nor even attend, fancy feasts or galas. Even though she was a dwarf and the love of a good party should be in her blood, she infinitely preferred trudging through the darkened maze tunnels interconnecting everything in the Mountain to taking part in a Royal Ball, especially one to which the Elven King Thanduil was invited.

Despite this, though, she was determined to prove her point. The stupid prince had to get out of this rut of self-pity that he had created for himself. So what if he wasn't going to be the prettiest dwarrow in the world, he was still him. Yes, he was slightly limited as to what he could do before, but he was far from helpless. There were others whom had been left far worse off from the war and yet, in most cases, they were able to find good work and live a relatively normal life. The Crown Prince's reluctance to improve was incredibly frustrating.

And so it was that she ended up in a dress makers in Dale, buying yards of fabric that faded from red to orange to gold, depending on the lighting. While sowing was far from Kori's favorite activity, she was good enough at it and managed to make a simple, yet elegant and eye-catching gown in little over three days. She spent a few hours embroidering simple designs onto the edges with silver thread. All she needed was some jewelry and silver slippers to complete the outfit and they were easily found and _'borrowed'_.

On the day of the Ball she spent the day helping her sisters get ready, but left them a couple hours before the Ball was set to begin, citing work as a reason. After all, assassins did so love a public setting if they were intent on making a statement. She did actually have to check to make sure no one had set up a nest on the uppermost, almost unreachable, balcony of the Great Hall, but that was quickly done and she hurried down to the small abandoned cavern where she had stored her dress.

After washing the shallow stream that trickled through the cave, she dressed quickly and used the relatively calm surface of the stream as mirror to do her hair with.

Instead of her usual three braids braided back into one to denote her less than savory career choice, she braids she worked in denoted her rarely used status as a High Lady (thanks to Nori's appointment as a High Lord), her eligibility (no one had ever, nor would likely ever, dare to court her) and her wealth (her family did own a sizable portion of the Dragon's Hoard, after all). Her hair was neatly piled atop her head and held in place by thick silver string and diamond-headed pins, giving the illusion that her hair was shimmering, similar to the edges of her dress.

To prevent any of the few who did know her face from recognising her, Kori finished off her outfit with a thin, translucent golden-red veil that covered her face. While it would do nothing to obscure her face up close, it would obscure it enough so no one would recognise her from a few feet away. Thankfully it didn't impair her vision much, so she would still be able to see everything pretty much as normal. If all went to plan, she would be able to see everyone, but only one person would see her.

 

****

 

While she arrived a little later than most of the others, no on paid her much mind. It was easy enough to find the Crown Prince, since he was sitting in his usual dark corner and was already into his cups. Ignoring the looks she got from the other drunks that surrounded him, she headed straight for where he was sitting.

Someone, probably Lady Dis, had forced him to bathe and wear fresh, clean clothes that befitted his station. Kori perfectly contrasted the Crown Prince in his blue doublet and robes with elaborate gold embroidery and long blonde hair.

"Will you not dance with me, my lord," she said sweetly, gaining his attention.

"I don't dance," he told her, not bothering to even look up.

"Now, I know that isn't true. I have seen you at the Three Beards dancing on tables," she laughed.

Finally he looked up at her in shock and when he did he found he couldn't look away. There was just something that was just so achingly familiar about her, but he couldn't think where from. It was like he knew her intimately, but at the same time she was a complete stranger to him. Maybe she was a noble he had known years ago and forgotten, but then again, what Lady would admit to being in the type of tavern that the Three Beards was.

Taking advantage of his dazed confusion, Kori grabbed his arm and dragged him onto the dance floor, joining the dull court dance that was already in progress. They gained more than a few stares and whispers, since almost no one had seen the Crown Prince since the reclaiming and now he was dancing with a mysterious dam in front of the whole court.

"Who are you?" Fili breathed, staring at his dance partner in awe.

She merely giggled and smiled knowingly in response. Fili couldn't help but continue to stare at her, his feet moving automatically.

"You're staring," she told him softly.

"It's just you...you look beautiful," he admitted bashfully.

"Thank you, my prince," she giggled. "You know, you're quite handsome yourself."

"Now, I know you're lying," he said, trying and failing to make his voice sound light.

"I don't lie," she said. "Besides, a very old man with a long grey beard once told me that true beauty was in the mind and not the body. That is what I look for, not aesthetically appealing physical characteristics."

"Then you are one of few," Fili sighed.

The music flowed and changed and so did the other pairs on the floor, but the Crown Prince and his mysterious partner kept dancing until the end of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and all the love you guys have been giving.  
> I kind of miss Rori though so...
> 
> Next week...Rori and Kori spend more time together than they bargained for.


	11. Road Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dori, Kori and Rori go on a little road trip to retrieve Bilbo from the elves...

"Kori, a word," Nori said and not a moment later his daughter materialised from the shadows at the edge of the Great Hall.

"Where am I going now?" she wondered.

"To Rivendell to retrieve Bilbo Baggins from the Elves," Nori told her.

"I take it then this was your little promise to the King," Kori sighed. "When do you want us back?"

"Before Durin's day," her father informed.

Kori frowned. Durin's day was barely three months away. She would have to leave immediately and not allow herself to be delayed for anything if she was to make it all the way to Rivendell and back in that time. Never the less, Kori nodded and turned around to leave so she could start packing, but Nori stopped her.

"One more thing," he said. "Dori shall be going with you. The elves particularly fond of Bilbo and would never relinquish his care to someone he didn't know and trust."

She stared at her father long and hard with an expression that was a mixture of fear, incredulity and annoyance. Kori hadn't spent an extended amount of time alone with Dori since she was Rori's age and for good reason. To Dori's eyes she was essentially a female Nori, which she supposed was true to a certain extent. Despite her reluctance to travel with her uncle, Kori wasn't stupid and she had to admit her father had a point.

"Fine," Kori sighed. "But if he isn't ready to leave in an hour, I'm going without him."

 

****

 

Dori was ready on time. Ready and waiting for Kori at the main gate. With a cart and pony. Had she been in a better mood, perhaps Kori would have asked what was in the cart, but as it was she couldn't be bothered. The less they talked the better. It would mean less arguing.

Kori mounted the pony that was waiting for her and kicked her heels, making the pony trot out of the Mountain. A moment later she heard the sound of the cart moving and Dori's voice calling out a polite goodbye to the guards on duty.

"Ah, Kori, there you are," Dori said as means of a greeting. "Are you sure you have everything?"

"Yes," Kori said, rolling her eyes.

"Are you sure?" he asked, giving her a pointed look as though he was sure she had.

"It's not too late to turn back and get it if you have."

"Yes."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to check?"

"No."

"But then how can you be sure you have everything," he argued.

Kori spurred her pony on in response, ignoring her uncle's voice calling out from behind her. Already she was regretting not bringing one of her sisters along with her. If she had then Dori would have someone else to coddle. She knew he didn't do it to be mean, but rather because he was a natural mother hen and just wanted to take care of people. That didn't make it any less annoying, though.

 

****

 

In an ironic twist of fate, Kori found her wish granted that very evening when they stopped for camp. She left Dori to start cooking while she tended to the ponies, Mindy, Mary and Myrtle. Despite the fact that the cart was pulled by one pony and Kori could only ride one pony, a third had been brought at the insistance of the King. Apparently Myrtle was Mr Bilbo Baggin's pony during the journey to the Mountain and the Hobbit had become rather attached. Clearly the King hoped to curry favour early with his secret love.

She had just finished with the ponies when she heard Dori let out a small cry. Trained to expect the worst, she whirled around with her knives drawn. However, instead of finding themselves set upon by a traveling group of orcs or humans, she found Dori staring into the back of the cart with a startled expression on his face. Finding no visible threat, Kori sheathed her weapons and sidled over to where Dori was standing.

"Whatever are _you_ doing here?" he wondered outloud, still staring into the back of the unhitched cart when Kori was still a few feet away.

"I wand do see de elves."

Instantly recognising the little voice, Kori closed her eyes and held back a groan. Rori had begged her to let her come too and it had taken a considerable amount of Kori's self-control not to give in to her baby sister's pleading eyes. Of course, being a 'Ri Rori would just ignore her and find a way to come anyway. When Kori hadn't seen her at the gate she should have suspected something was up.

"Rori, is that you?" she asked, praying that maybe it wasn't.

"Hello," Rori's cute little voice said.

Kori could feel her little sister latch onto her leg. Cautiously she opened her eyes and looked down to see that Rori had attached herself to her left leg and was grinning up her.

"I wand do come wid you," she said.

"You know that what you've done is a bad thing, right? You shouldn't have snuck into the back of the cart like that," Kori chided.

"I know," Rori said, despite not looking the slightest bit repentant.

"Rori, did you tell anyone you were leaving?" Kori asked.

"Yep," she nodded proudly. "I dold Unca Ori. He promised do dell Adad."

Once again Kori resisted the urge to groan. Of all the people Under the Moutain, Ori was one of the worst Rori could have chosen to confide in. Yes, he would certainly deliver the message, only problem being that he wasn't supposed to know he had nieces. While on one had Kori understood the need for secrecy, but now it just seemed to be getting out of hand.

"Rori, you didn't tell Unca Ori that he really was your uncle, did you?" she asked, almost dreading the answer.

"Nope. Dori said I should never do dat," Rori told her, but Kori's sigh of relief was cut short. "I dold him do dell my Adad, bud he didn'd know who my Adad was, so I dold him. He god upset aboud dat, bud I don'd ged why."

This time Kori really did groan. She turned to share a look with Dori, who was suddenly looking very pale.

"Ori's going to hate me when we get back," he said and promptly fainted, making Kori groan once again.

"Does dis mean I can sday?"

 

****

 

In the end it was decided that it was probably best for Rori to remain with them, since sending her back on her own was not an option and they were too far out of the way to send a raven. They could have always gone back, but that would have cost them time which Kori and Dori doubted they could spare. Dori knew how fond Bilbo was of the elves and doubted it would be easy to pull him away from them. If they intended to make it back to the Mountain by Durin's Day they would have to hurry as it was.

As any journey is, the trip to the elven haven of Rivendell was a long one and though not fraught with the same perils as the original journey to the Mountain had been, Dori still found himself constantly on his guard.

On the second day of their travels something of a ritual began between the two sisters, consisting of the same questions and very monotone answers. By the end of the first week he had given up trying to interfere and simply let them play out their little game until one of them finally got so annoyed they would simply shut up.

"Can I play wid your bow?"

"No."

"Sword?"

"No."

"Arrow?"

"No."

"Liddle axe?"

"No."

"How aboud a knife?"

"No."

"Fine. Can I ride wid you?"

"No."

"Bud I wand do ride wit you."

"No."

"Why nod?"

"No."

"Can I drive?"

"No."

"But I wand do drive."

"No."

"Fine. Can we see de Sdone Giands?"

"No."

"Bud I wand do see de Sdone Giands."

"No."

"Fine. Can we see de goblins, den?"

"No."

"Bud I wand do see de goblins."

"No."

"Fine. Can we see de drolls Gandy durn do sdone?"

"No."

"But--"

"No."

"Fine. Den can we--"

"No."

"Bud you didn'd even led me finish."

"No."

"Can you say anyding oder dan _'no'_?"

"No."

"Your mean."

"Meh."

"Now, now. Let's not fight. How about we sing instead?" Dori would suggest in an attempt to placate the sisters.

"No!" the two 'Ri girls would shout at the same time and the sisters glares, that had there to fore been directed at each other, would then turned on Dori.

To his credit, the silver haired Dwarf never shrank back, as almost anyone else would have. Then again, he had all but raised Nori and certainly been a parental influence among all four of the girls, so after a while he'd grown immune to what Bofur had dubbed _'the 'Ri look'_.

 

****

 

They crossed the Misty Mountains with no sign of trouble in sight, much to Dori and Kori's relief and Rori's disappointment. Neither were their travels between the mountains and the Hidden Valley interrupted by anything that wished them harm.

About a day from Rivendell they ran into a Ranger with whom Kori was acquainted and agreed to accompany them on the rest of their way. While Dori remained stubbornly suspicious of the stranger, Rori quickly warmed up to him and the Ranger was soon showered with the attentions of both 'Ri sisters, although their motivations were rather different. Rori talked to him because she liked his stories. Meanwhile Kori quizzed him so she would have as much information as possible to pass on to Nori about what was happening west of the Misty Mountains.

When they finally reached Rivendell all members of the party were incredibly relieved. After being formally greeted by Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, and then informally greeted by Bilbo Baggins, Burglar Hobbit, they were all given a hot bath before being ushered off to bed and enjoying a long night of peaceful sleep.

The following morning Dori and Kori were woken by the sounds of the elves cooing over Rori. She was there less than a day and already the youngest 'Ri had all Rivendell wrapped around her little finger. Dori and Kori shared a look, before silently retreating to their rooms and going back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading. I hope you liked this chapter.  
> If you have a younger sibling then you will know how annoying it can get when you drive anywhere with them for more then twenty minutes. Kori wasn't trying to be mean, she was just annoyed.  
> Also, thank you for all the ideas you guys have been sending in. They keep inspiring me.
> 
> Next week...how Rori met all her favourite people


	12. Rori Meets... Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rori remembers meeting some of her favourite people...and a few others.

Dori

Rori isn't sure when she met Dori, but she thinks she must have been very young, since she doesn't remember it. He has always been there for as long as she can recall. He was always there for her when she needed him and a few times when she didn't. Dori would look after her when her sister's couldn't. They would play games together and he would tell her funny stories.

For some reason, though, Dori rarely seemed to get along with her Adad. They never outright argued in front of her, but she could tell anyway. And although she knew Dori got on with his other brother, Unca Ori, but Dori would never talk to her about him.

She learned early on that although Dori could be overbearing at times, it was because he cared and he could be a lot of fun when he wanted to be, but not a lot of people were willing to stick around to find that out.

Rori loved Dori.

 

****

 

Tori

Like with Dori, Rori can't remember her first meeting with Tori. Her earliest memory of her oldest sister was crawling into Tori's room after a nightmare and sitting on her sister's lap as she sang to her. Along with Dori, Tori had been the one to raise her. She was always there when Rori needed her.

Rori remembered the one time she tried calling Tori _'Amad'_. It was the only time she could remember the ever unflappable Kori look startled. After Tori very carefully explained to her that she was not her Amad and why it was not a good idea to call her such, Rori never did again.

Rori loved Tori.

 

****

 

Kori and Lori

Rori couldn't remember first meeting Kori or Lori either, but the oldest memory she had of them involved a lot of books and a lot of very sharp knives. It wasn't hard to guess which items belonged to which people. She still wasn't sure what it was they had actually been doing and she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Rori loved Kori and Lori.

 

****

 

Ori

The first time she saw Unca Ori was when she was at Unca Dori's while her sisters were busy. Unca Ori had come home early from his apprenticeship and found her playing on the floor in front of the fire. She remembered asking him very pointedly who he was and what he was doing in her Unca Dori's house. Ori had looked at her in surprise and had told her he lived here too, as Dori was his brother.

Rori wasn't quite sure what had happened after that, but she and Ori had ended up playing with her blocks by the fire until Dori called them to dinner. She and Ori had played together again a few times, but Dori hadn't let them spend time together very often. It had been Lori who had explained to her that Ori was their secret uncle.

Rori loved Ori.

 

****

 

Dwalin

The first time Rori had met Dwalin was while they were still living in Ered Luin and Adad had gotten himself arrested. Again. Lori was sick and Tori had her hands full looking after her so Kori had taken Rori and gone to bust their Adad out. Again.

Rori remembered that her first thoughts on Dwalin had been that he was very tall. Then that he was very grumpy. Then that he wouldn't be so grumpy if he got more hugs. So, ignoring Kori's warnings of caution, Rori had crept out of their hidding place and attached herself to the strong dwarf's leg and attempted to give him a hug.

To say Dwalin had been shock then surprised and then not best please would be an understatment. He'd made such a scene about it that it had allowed Kori to slip past the distracted guards and free Nori without any particular effort.

Unlike Tori who was very upset when she found out what Rori had done, Kori seemed mildly impressed.

_"Next time try and give him a kiss,"_ she'd suggested.

So, next time, that's exactly what Rori did.

Rori was happy when she found out that Dwalin was going to be another uncle, since he and Unca Ori really liked each other. Kori said it was more than like and pulled a funny face, but Rori didn't quite understand what she meant. Lori told her not to worry about it and she would understand when she was older.

Rori liked Dwalin.

 

****

 

Balin

Rori remembered the first time she met Balin. She had just arrived in Erebor with her sisters and had to sign in before they were allowed through the gate. He had a long white beard and kind, sharp eyes that had looked upon the group of sisters with shock. He had asked them all their names and birth years. Tori had gone first, then Kori and then Lori.

_"And what of you, little one?"_ he had asked Rori, smiling fondly at her. _"What is your name."_

She instantly decided she liked him. He didn't treat her like she was a little baby, like most people did. He treated her like a big girl. Not a lot of people did that, which gained him a special place in her mind along with Adad, Kori and Ori, who never treated her like a little baby either.

Rori had happily told him her name and he had smiled at her and then she was allowed into the Mountain with her sisters.

Over the following few years Rori would occasional go in search of Balin whenever she heard Adad or Kori or Dori mentioning that the old adviser was looking mad or sad or stressed. He would always smile at her and give her a sweet before sending her on her way, his eyes looking less dark than they had before.

Rori liked Balin.

 

****

 

Tauriel

The first time Rori actually met Tauriel was when Kori sent her to take the elf to the secret garden that Lori had spent the past few weeks building. Kori hadn't really been specific on how to do it and when Rori asked her response hadn't exactly been helpful.

_"I don't know,"_ Kori had shrugged. _"Use extortion. Bribe her with sweets. Offer to destroy her enemies for her. What does it matter? Just be creative. I'm sure you'll think of something."_

And Rori did.

_"I'm here to kidnap you,"_ she'd said, before remembering the manners Dori and Tori had taken so long to instill in her. _"Please."_

Somehow, despite that being the first thing that Rori had said to her, Tauriel soon became a good friend to Rori. She was almost like another sister. Except she was an elf and really, really tall.

Rori liked Tauriel.

 

****

 

Thorin

Rori very clearly remembered meeting King Thorin. Adad had taken her and Lori exploring through some tunnels and they had ended up in the King's bedchambers. His bed was really big and really fluffy and really comfy and really, really, really bouncy. She remembered finding a really funny looking, spiky gold crown that she put on her head, but it kept slipping off. She'd liked the crown and had wanted to keep it, but Lori had taken it off her.

At some point Lori disappeared and had left Rori alone in the room. She'd been more curious than scared when the door had opened and the King had come stomping in. He was very grumpy because he growled when he saw her.

_"What are you doing here?"_ he had demanded.

_"Hello,"_ she had smiled at him. _"I'm Rori and my Adad just stole your crown."_

For some reason, she still wasn't quite sure why, Thorin had suddenly become very angry when she said that.

Rori wasn't sure about Thorin.

 

****

 

Dis and Brundi

Rori had nearly barreled into Lady Dis as she was running away from Thorin and the guards who had chased her out of the King's chambers. She remembered looking up at the older Dam and thinking she had a kind face, even though the expression she wore was one of surprise. Rori had let out a squeak when she heard the guards round the corner and instinctively hidden behind Lady Dis' skirt.

The sight of Lady Dis shouting at the guards and the King, causing the battle hardened dwarrows to cower in fear is not one that Rori ever forget. In regards to Lady Dis, it does not matter who you are, you will very nearly wet yourself in fear should she see fit to turn her ire towards you.

After scolding them sufficiently, Lady Dis had picked Rori up and carried her off to another lavish room in the palace where Lady Brundi was waiting. They gave her lots of cake and cookies and asked her lots questions. She didn't answer them all, because she remembered Kori telling her to always as two questions for every one she answered. Despite the questions, though, she did enjoy herself and was almost upset when Dori arrived to take her home.

Like with Balin, Rori would occasionally seek out Lady Dis and Lady Brundi for a cookie or a hug. They gave really good hugs.

Rori definitely like Lady Dis and Lady Brundi.

(And just maybe feared them a little, but then, who didn't?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the love. You guys are amazing.  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Rori is just so cute.
> 
> Next Week...More of how Rori met people.  
> I haven't finished the next chapter yet, so who would you like to see Rori meet?


	13. Rori Meets... Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Rori met more of her favourite people and a few others...

Bofur

The first time Rori met Bofur was when they were still living in the Blue Mountains. Tori had been busy so Kori and taken her and Lori down to the mines to play. Most of the tunnels there were abandoned so they were unlikely to come across anyone else.

As per usual Rori hadn't listened to her older sister's caution not to wander off and ended up getting lost in the cave system. Scared, alone and lost she'd sat on a rock crying for what had felt like hours.

Eventually a minor with three braids and a funny hat heard her sobs and followed them to find her. She can't remember what he said to her, but he was funny and she eventually stopped crying. He waited with her until Lori found her and dragged her back to Kori. Suffice to say it was one of many instances the three younger sisters agreed never to mention to Tori.

The next time Rori spoke to Bofur was when she and Tori had been tempting him into the abandoned cavern in Erebor so they could set him up with Adad. He didn't remember her, but she remembered him.

Rori loved her Papa Bofur

 

****

 

Bifur and Bombur

The first time Rori met Bifur and Bombur was just after Adad had pulled off a very successful job. They a bit more money than usual, so Adad had decided to treat them all to a meal out. When they arrived at the tavern, which was considerably less shady than the ones Nori and Kori had been used to frequenting for business purposes, Rori had noticed a worn looking dwarrow sitting in the corner by the fire, fiddling with a block of wood and a knife.

All through their meal Rori had kept glancing over at him, curious as to what he was doing. Once Adad was suitably distracted with his drink and Tori was busy scolding Lori for taking a sip of Adad's tankard, Rori had slipped away from the booth in the corner and tiptoed over to the dwarrow by the fire. Kori's hawk like eyes burned a hole into her back, but as Kori didn't interfere Rori continued on knowing her sister found no danger apparent.

 _"Whad are you doing?"_ she had asked.

Bifur had grunted something in khuzdul that she couldn't understand before going back to his work. Rori had stayed sitting next to him and watched in facination as the plain block of wood turned into a little fox with a bushy tail. When he was done, Bifur offered the toy creature to her. She took it cautiously and had carefully examined it before offering it back to him. He's shaken his head and said something else that she couldn't understand.

 _"He says you can keep it,"_ a voice had said behind her.

Rori had turned to see a big, round, redheaded dwarrow smiling kindly down at her. The manners Dori and Tori had instilled in her kicked in and she thanked them both kindly before returning back to her family's table, where Kori was waiting for her.

From then on Rori would make it a point to visit Bifur every now and then. She would just sit with him while he whittled away and make various toys in his workshop. Once she was old enough he began teaching her Khuzdul.

When Bombur discovered she visited his cousin regularly he would always make sure to leave some cookies or other treats in Bifur's workshop for the pair to nibble on. They tasted so good.

Rori like Bifur and Bombur.

 

****

 

Fili and Kili

Rori first met the two princes when they wandered out of their safe, rich neighbourhood in the Blue Mountains and ended up in a quiet area of the slums where she lived with her sisters. It wasn't until a few years later that she found out who they were. At the time they had simply been two people who didn't look lost, but who were clearly out of place.

She had been alone at home with Lori at the time while Tori was working at a seamstress shop and Kori was doing something. Ignoring her sisters' warnings not to leave the house, Rori had raced off to confront the two strangers. Lori had been so wrapped up that she didn't even notice.

When Rori reached the street below she noticed group of lecherous looking dwarrow that tended to hang around after the were kicked out of whichever tavern they had decided to drown their sorrows in were eyeing up the two strangers and their rich, warm, fur cover garments. Knowing exactly what they would try and do, Rori decided to get the strangers away before anything happened to them.

Darting forward she grabbed the mostly full coin purse off the blond one's belt and scurried away down the street in the direction that led out of the slums. The two were foolishly slow to react. At least, they were by 'Ri standards. Rori was already half-way down the street when they seemed to notice.

_"Hey, she took my purse!"_

_"Come on! Let's get her, Fili!"_

Even with her head start they had longer legs and quickly gained on her. Rori turned a corner and desperately looked around for somewhere to hide, when a hand reached out and pulled her into a doorway. A slightly bigger body covered hers, but Rori quickly let go of the urge to fight when she realised it was Kori.

The princes ran right past them and didn't even notice their very obvious hiding place. Clearly they were idiots.

Kori had fixed her with an unimpressed look and silently motioned for Rori to hand over the coin purse. Reluctantly Rori had handed over her prize. Kori had taken a moment to examine the pouch and raised an eyebrow at it's contents. Rori had looked at her in surprise when she handed it back to her.

 _"You know the rules. First time it's all yours. Adad would be very proud,"_ Kori said, making Rori grin. _"Just don't tell Tori or Dori."_

When she got home Rori made sure to hide the coin purse very carefully somewhere no one else would find it and save it until she needed it.

Rori thought Fili and Kili were idiots.

 

****

 

Oin

The first time Rori met Oin was when she was still very little. She had been playing on the cliffs when she'd fallen and landed funny on her arm and broken it. Kori had taken her to Oin, who gave her a horrible tasting drink that made her mind go all fuzzy.

She remembered looking around the apothecary shop with wonderment. There were so many funny and strange things on display. Unusual smells filled the room, most of them foul.

**_Snap!_ **

Pain resounded through her body from her arm as Oin put the broken pieces of bone back in place. After splinting her arm and bandaging it, he gave her a piece of rock candy which was very good.

Rori had mixed feelings about Oin.

 

****

 

Gloin

The first time Rori actually met Gloin was at the joint family dinner that Lady Brundi had insisted on once it became public knowledge that Tori and Gimli were courting. It was only the four sisters, as they still weren't known to be connected to anyone.

All things considered things went rather well. Gloin only spent half the evening glaring at Lori who innocently made multiple comments on the ease in which one could scam money from the treasury which Gloin happened to be in charge of. Lady Brundi only mentioned Kori's clothing choice of breeches instead of a dress three times. Also, Tori and Gimli managed to sit through two hours of dinner without spending every single second in physical contact and managed to wait until an hour after dinner before disappearing.

However, once the actual meal was over things started to get a bit strange. Clearly Gloin had had too much to drink, or at least Rori hoped that was the case. The older red beared dwarf began openly boasting about his son, who was still in the room at this point.

_"My Gimli is the best at this. Did you know he could do that? Yes, he does that quite well. He is a true master at it. Have you never seen or heard him practise? Oh, but you must. I insist upon it. You will never think of anything else the same again. My Gimli is simply incredible."_

About a third of the way into what was later dubbed _'The Ode to Gimli'_ Tori and Gimli disappeared. Five minutes later and the other three sisters were bored out of their minds. Five minutes after that Kori began openly mocking the proud dwarrow, which he clearly did not seem to notice. Five minutes after that again and Lori had joined in with her older sister, but still Gloin didn't notice.

When they were finally able to leave Kori and Lori were still snickering to themselves about how easily they had been able to confuse Gloin. They had just turned the corner when they heard Gloin's booming voice echo through the halls.

 _"What delightful young ladies,"_ he said to his wife. _"We simply must have them over again. They were so attentive and truly appreciative of my Gimli and his astounding abilities t--"_

The rest of his words were drowned out by the sound of the 'Ri sister's laughter.

Rori thought Gloin was pompous.

 

****

 

Gandalf

Rori couldn't actually remember the first time that she met Gandalf the Grey. All she knew about is that every few years he would occasionally pop by to have a cup of tea with Dori. And he would always bring them presents.

Tori always got a length of silk ribbon from the lands of men. Kori was given various little knives to add to her already extensive collection. Lori got books, but each time it was on a different subject. He would give Rori little bits of candy that came from wherever he had last been in Middle-Earth.

One of her earliest memories was sitting on the floor by the fire in Dori's sitting room while Gandalf was visiting. Somehow she had commandeered Gandalf's hat and Lori had convinced her that if she could stay hidden under Gandalf's squishy grey hat she would be able to go with the wizard on his travels.

Suffice to say it didn't work and as small as she was Rori couldn't quite fit under the hat. The old grey wizard had chuckled at her as he'd plucked the oversized hat off her small head and told her that maybe one day when she was older she would go on an adventure of her own.

Rori like Gandalf, even if he was a bit odd.

 

****

 

Bilbo

The first time Rori met the famous Hobbit that saved the mountain was in Rivendell. As soon as Bilbo had set his eyes on her, he had raced over and swept her into a hug. It took Kori's third most threatening look to make the Hobbit let Rori go. Not that she really minded. Bilbo smelt like fresh grass and wild berries, which was much better than the constant smell of stone which most dwarves tended to give off.

For the rest of their stay in Rivendell and their trip back to the mountain, Bilbo rarely let Rori out of his sight. Once back in Erebor Rori was the first to recieve an offer to afternoon tea from the Hobbit.

No one was quite sure who had whom wrapped around their finger. Was it the Hobbit or was it the young Dam?

Either way, they were a very sweet pair, but certainly not one to be underestimated.

Rori really liked her Hobbit Unca Bilbo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and all the ideas. I hope it lived up to expectations.
> 
> Next week...Bilbo arrives at the Mountain.


	14. Bilbo's Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bilbo arrives in Erebor and walks right into a lot of family drama.

The Mountain loomed strong and bold in front of their small procession as they made their way towards it. During the course of their journey, the little travelling party had grown until they weren't really all that little any more. Lord Elrond's sons, Elladan and Elrohir, had insisted on accompanying them from Rivendell to Erebor where they would then part company as Bilbo and the Dwarves stayed and the twins would travel on to Lorien where they would visit their sister.

The Ranger Dori, Kori and Rori had encountered on their way to Rivendell also accompanied them, though Bilbo wasn't entirely certain as to why. Kori seemed to know and had assured them that his motives were honourable enough. The fact that he was trusted by a dwarf was recommendation enough that Bilbo didn't question his accompanying them, even if Kori certainly seemed to have a much more questionable moral code than most Dwarves did.

Bilbo had learnt a lot about his two new dwarf companions during their travels. They both left him incredibly intrigued as they were the first female Dwarves he had come across and one of them was a child, which he was given to understand was incredibly rare. However it was more than clear from his conversations with Dori about them that Kori and Rori weren't exactly like your average dam or Dwarfling.

Kori was more than happy to answer any questions Bilbo had regarding female Dwarves, but tended to use her older sister as a reference more than herself. It seemed that Kori wasn't exactly the epitome of dwarvish femininity. According to Dori it was scandalous for a dam to wear breeches instead of a poufy dwarvish style dress unless they were travelling long distance and needed to disguise themselves as a Dwarrow for safety. Kori, however, wore breeches all the time and it was a rare sight indeed to catch her wearing a dress.

Bilbo found that he quite liked Kori, despite the fact that her manners were somewhat courser than he was used to encountering among females. She had laughed at him and called him sheltered when he told her so. Bilbo would have taken offense, but she said it with such fondness that he found it impossible.

Apparently since Tori, Kori and Rori's eldest sister, was being courted by Gimli, Gloin's son, with the intention to marry, Bilbo was an honourary uncle of sorts. This was because Gloin, Lady Brundi and Gimli were practically family already and Gloin had publicly announced Bilbo as an adopted brother Bilbo. It meant that Rori had started calling him _'Unca Bilbo'_ as soon as they were introduced and by the end of their journey Kori was doing the same.

Rori was adorable and Bilbo simply adored her. While they traveled Bilbo had spent most of his time entertaining the young Dwarfling. She was so adorable and always got so absorbed in Bilbo's stories, even the ones he was sure she must have heard before. With all her energy she reminded him so much of his young Took and Brandybuck cousins. He would certainly be concerned as to the outcome should young Rori ever meet any of them.

 

****

 

They had been met outside the gates of the Mountain by Kili, Tauriel, Ori and the infamous Lady Dis. At some point during the ride between the newly built city of Dale and Erebor Kori had disappeared from their little troupe, but no one noticed quite when. Dori had merely sighed when it had been pointed out to him, but hadn't seemed particularly concerned about it so everyone followed his lead and and didn't worry about the young spysassin's absence.

When they got to the gates Kili stepped forward and cleared his throat before formally greeting the party to the great dwarven stronghold of Erebor. Rori, however, didn't seemed to understand the solomenty of the occasion and launched herself off the cart at Tauriel and Ori. The young dwarfling's happy squeals ruined the mood and Kili got distracted with dreamily staring at Tauriel interact Rori. It was only Lady Dis' pointed clearing of her throat that brought him back to reality and he went through the formal greet much quicker than was probably appropriate.

"Welcome to Erebor," Lady Dis greeted, stepping forward to embrace the Hobbit that she had heard so much about over the past few years. "It is an honour to finally meet you Lord Bilbo. I am most grateful that you are finally here. My brother's pining had become almost too much to bear."

Bilbo went bright red around the ears when she said that. While he had certainly missed his stubborn dwarf King, he hadn't thought the feeling was mutual and it surprised him to hear Lady Dis speak so boldly of it. While not prohibited in the Shire, relationships between two men or two women that were anything more than merely good friends were deeply frowned on.

From what Bilbo had gathered talking to Kori during their trip, same gender relationships among dwarves was commonplace. Given the almost overwhelming male to female ratio, it would be unreasonable to deny dwarrow a relationship with each other since their chances of finding a wife were much slimmer than among other races. Then again it also wasn't uncommon for a dwarrow or even a dam to refuse any partner, male or female, and dedicate their entire lives to their craft, such as Oin and Balin did.

"Speaking of my good for nothing brother," Lady Dis continued, ignoring the Hobbit's blushing face. "He regrets he cannot be here to greet you, but an unexpected council meeting was called and had to be there to yell the bloody fools into submission. Things are easier on him now that Fili has finally decided to step up and become the heir he is meant to be, but that boy has been so distracted lately. Ever since he--"

Lady Dis was interrupted by the scene that had begun playing out when Dori had gotten down off the cart he had been travelling in.

"Ori, my dear brother. I have missed you," Dori said as he attempted to give his brother a hug.

"Humpf," Ori huffed and turned his back on Dori to greet Rori instead.

"Oh, now really, Ori," Dori sighed. "There's no need to be like that."

" _'No need'_?!" Ori demanded, turning on his oldest brother. "You hid the fact that I have four beautiful, amazing, wonderful nieces from me for most of my life! I think I have more than deserved the right to be upset about it!"

"But--"

"Forgive me, Bilbo, but I must return this little rascal to her sisters," Rori said to Bilbo with Rori in his arms.

"Of course," Bilbo nodded, not really wanting to get involved in what was clearly a sensitive family matter.

Without so much a sidewards glance at his brother, Ori turned around and went back into the Mountain, presumably to the 'Ri sisters' secret apartments. Both Kori and Dori had impressed upon Bilbo the need for the sisters unanimity, even among the company. While Bilbo couldn't entirely understand why they needed to keep it such a strict secret, he decided to honour their request and not talk about them unless they were brought up first.

"Well, that was all very dramatic," Dis announced. "Kili, why don't you take Bilbo to his apartments and fetch some tea for the both of you. I must have a word with Dori."

"Yes, Amad," Kili nodded and led Bilbo into through the gates and into the Mountain city he had not seen in years.

 

****

 

The apartments that Bilbo would be staying in had been built especially for him. Instead of everything being made out of cold, hard, unforgiving stone and strong, dark wood cut in straight lines, the walls were covered with a cream silk wallpaper and the floors carpeted with an elaborately woven rug depicting a farm that reminded Bilbo strongly of the Shire. All the furniture and trim was carved out of soft, warm honey coloured wood with little scenes of animals carved into it's rounded shape.

There were various things around the apartments that Bilbo noticed had been placed there for him by the company. An extensive sowing kit from Dori, knitting needles and a basket full of brightly coloured wool from Ori and what Bilbo assumed to be a locksmiths kit that probably came from Nori were in one corner. Another held a large silver mirror with a cabinet filled with various vials of household medicines made from Hobbit recipes that Bilbo had shown Oin during their journey. A small rack by the far wall held an wide assortment of light-weight Hobbit sized weapons, some ceremonial and some more practicle, that seemed to be from Dwalin, Gloin, Fili and Kili. There was a wooden flute Bofur had made on the mantle piece that had clearly been carved by Bifur as he had a very distinctive style.

The two things that Bilbo treasured most, however, was the small libraries worth of books that covered the walls of the room that was his study. They had all been carefully hand picked by Balin and Ori with some influence from the Ladies Dis and Brundi. When he had opened the bottom draw of the desk Bilbo had found a small Khuzdul dictionary that had the meaning of all the words translated to the common tongue. Inside the cover had been a note from Kori telling him that she and her sisters had written the book especially for him and that it was the only one of it's kind in exsistance. Bilbo knew how secretive the dwarves were with their native tongue and felt honoured and deeply humbled that the four girls, who could not have known him when they started writing it, would go against their people's code to impart upon him a piece of their culture.

The other thing Bilbo had discovered that he simply adored was the fact that his apartments had a very well stocked kitchen. Since everyone in the palace either had meals brought to their rooms or ate in the main hall, no one had a kitchen in their apartments. Knowing how much Hobbits valued their food and how much Bilbo loved to cook, Bombur had insisted a kitchen be added to the apartment and had ensured it was well stocked with fresh food and ingredients just before Bilbo got there. The Hobbit was already planning all the meals he would cook for his friends.

 

****

 

"What's wrong with him?" Bilbo wondered, motioning to the moping blonde prince that was wearing a grove into the floor with his constant pacing.

Fili had joined them not long after Bilbo finished exploring his apartments. Apparently Thorin and Balin had Dwalin kick him out of the council chambers for suggesting one of the Lord's mother mated regularly with a troll after the Lord insulted Kili for his love of Tauriel.

"Oh, he found and then lost his One all in the course of one evening," Kili told him.

"She's not lost," Fili snapped. "Merely misplaced."

"You still can't find her, though, can you?" Kili taunted.

Fili looked like he wanted to punch his brother, but Bilbo stepped in before he could put the thought into action. Kili wasn't currently in the best of moods as Tauriel had disappeared with the elvish twins and the ranger not long after they arrived. One couldn't blame her though. She was constantly surrounded by dwarves, most of which despised her, and was forbidden from ever returning to her kin in Mirkwood. The company of other elves was rare for her and something she must surely long for. Bilbo could hardly fault her for wanting to spend as much time with them as possible before they continued on their way in a few days.

"Fili, I am sure she was wonderful, but do you really not know who is was?" Bilbo asked not unkindly. "And how do you know she was really your One?"

"Because I just know. Everything about her was just perfect," Fili sighed dreamily.

He then went on to wax lyrical about this secretive princess whom he had met at a ball in a way that distinctly reminded Bilbo of how Gloin would boast of his wife and son.

 

****

 

Bilbo was woken by the soft sound of a door opening and closing. He sighed drowsily. He must have fallen asleep at some point during Fili's eternal monologe. A chaste kiss was pressed against his temple and Bilbo opened his eyes to find Thorin's soft blue eyes staring down at him.

"Hello, Thorin," he greeted quietly.

"Hello, Bilbo," the King smiled softly as he said his love's name. "Welcome to Erebor."

And Bilbo smiled. Suddenly all the tediousness of the day all seemed worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading. I can't believe so many of you have read this fic.  
> I finally did a Bilbo chapter. I had meant to introduce him earlier, but it never seemed to fit.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
>  
> 
> Next Week...Bilbo has a tea party.


	15. The Teaparty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bilbo has a tea party...

It was a week before Durin's Day and the Mountain was in chaos preparing for the week long festivities that were to take place. Decorations were being hung everywhere and every nook and cranny of the Mountain was given a good cleaning. People who had spent weeks preparing their costumes for the Great Parade were putting the finishing touches on their outfits and the mask makers sold out all their wares within a matter of minutes after opening.

It was in among all this organised chaos that Bilbo decided to throw a tea party for the ladies among his acquaintance. Upon mentioning the idea to Tauriel, the elf had immediately offered him the use of her garden for the occasion, which Bilbo graciously accepted. After all, a tea party wasn't truly a tea party unless it was outside. At least, not by Hobbit standards.

Since arriving Under the Mountain, Bilbo had been spending a large amount of time in Tauriel's garden. Being a Hobbit an used to spending most of his time outside either tending to his garden or going for walks, it was difficult for him to be cooped up inside for long periods of time, even in a place as big as Erebor. Thankfully Tauriel didn't seem to mind the intrusion. If anything thing she seemed rather glad for the company.

Bilbo had noticed that when Tauriel wasn't with either Kili or Lori she was on her own, usually hiding from the less open-minded dwarves in her garden. Every now and then Dis, Brundi or Tori would stop by to talk to the elf, but this wasn't very often. Occasionally a little gift or token would appear by Tauriel's side without explanation, usually on days when she was more reserved and withdrawn than usual. Sometimes Rori would appear without any real explanation either and just sit and play or talk with Tauriel for hours on end, leading Bilbo to suspect that Kori was trying to cheer the elf up.

Speaking of the elusive red head, Bilbo spend hours trying to find her so he could give her her invitation in person, but he was unable to find her and had to settle for giving it to Tori to pass on. Bilbo had made sure to hand write all the invitations and to address them to the 'Ri sisters individually, so none of them would feel left out.

The day before the tea party Bilbo spent the entire day baking. While he was sure that had he asked Bombur for some cakes, scones, tea and juice from the Royal Kitchens the large dwarf would have been more than happy to oblige, Bilbo knew his friend had more than enough to deal with already, what with vast amounts of food required for the Durin's Day celebrations. Dwarves on a normal day ate lots, even by Hobbit standards, but it seemed that on special occasions they ate at least thrice as much as usual.

 

****

 

As polite manners dictated, Bilbo had invited the Red Mountain's Princess, but she had declined. No doubt it had been intended as a snub, but everyone was secretly quite relieved. During the time in Erebor the Princess had shown herself to be of a most unlikable character. Even Balin, Nori and Oin, all of whom had near endless patience, had long grown sick of her constant whining and moaning and pettiness towards anyone that was not of her people. Yet the moment she was around Thorin she became the very picture of royal grace, even if she did hang all over him.

The Princess had taken an immediate dislike to Bilbo the moment she met him. It was hard not to see the connection the Hobbit shared with Thorin and the princess wanted Thorin, making the Hobbit an obstacle that had to be removed. In an attempt to make him leave on his own, she took every opportunity to put down and belittle him, even going so far as to encourage the same behaviour in others.

However, Bilbo was well liked among the dwarves of Erebor. Everyone knew of the part he had played in the reclaiming of the Mountain. While there was certainly no denying that he was a Hobbit and therefore not a Dwarf, he was the King's Hobbit and known to be good friends with Head Guard Dwalin and Spymaster Nori, a pair which no one was willing to go against, especially if they were working together.

As there always is, there were a few among the Mountain's inhabitants that didn't like the foreign creature, but Nori and Kori kept a close eye on them. Not that it was really necessary. The dwarves of the Mountain were too honourable and too loyal to their King to attempt to hard the Hobbit.

No, Nori and Kori were more worried about one of the Red Mountain dwarves doing something to their beloved Hobbit, especially given their Princess' strong dislike of Bilbo.

While the Spymaster and his hand didn't want to trouble their King with their concerns just yet, they agreed to keep a close eye on Bilbo and had Dwalin and Balin keep an even sharper eye on the Lords during council meetings. As soon as Thorin left Bilbo in the morning, there was always either a 'Ri or an 'Ur close to the Hobbit's side, even if Bilbo didn't always notice them.

 

****

 

The day of the Tea Party, Tauriel and Lori helped set everything up. Despite the lateness of the season, many of the flowers in the garden were still in bloom and the wind wasn't too biting so the window could be kept wide open. Since first being given the garden by Lori, Tauriel had a glass window fitted to the large crack in the wall, so the garden would stay warm and in bloom even in the dark winter months.

Ladies Dis and Brundi were the first to arrive, soon followed by Tori with Rori. Kori arrived last and, in an unusual show of knowledge about Hobbit culture, brought with her a gift for their host. However, instead of bringing food or ale or even a book, as most Hobbits would have done, Kori brought a small silver bell that made a soft tinkling sound when rung that reminded Bilbo of laughing Elves.

"Thank you, Kori. It's beautiful," Bilbo said, even though he wasn't really sure what it was for.

Lady Dis, however, recognised it at once. It was one of the silver bells that belonged to the Dragon scale mask Thorin had spent months crafting for Bilbo for the parade. Dis couldn't help but feel curious as to how the young Dam had gotten her hands on it.

"Now, please, do all help yourselves," Bilbo announced.

The dwarves and elf needed no further prompting and immediately tucked into the small feast of treats before them. As they ate and sipped their tea, or juice in Rori's case, they chatted about the upcoming festivities, Bilbo's garden in the Shire and gossiped over the goings on at the Court.

Eventually Bilbo simply couldn't help himself and turned the conversation to a topic he had become increasingly curious about. Fili's mysterious One. Luckily it seemed that most of the others were just as confused and frustrated over the topic as their host was.

"I must admit I am quite surprised that he has not found her already," Lady Brundi said. "Fili must have searched the Mountain thrice over looking for her. I doubt there is anywhere he hasn't searched."

"Of course there is. There are hundreds of places to hid in the city alone, thousands if you include the various minds, caverns and shafts that are rarely used or abandoned," Kori told her. "There are several places within the Mountain that are big enough to hide a small army without leaving anyone the wiser. Not to mention all the orc, goblin and were-worm tunnels that there might be which we do not know about."

"There is also always the possibility that she has left the Mountain already," Tauriel suggested.

"Impossible," Lady Dis shook her head. "There are guards posted at every gate and they all have instructions to look out for a Dam of her description. Not that it's a very accurate description, mind you. Fili's description of her is more dreamy than detailed and no doubt not entirely accurate."

"Kori, do you or Nori know who it is?" Tori wondered, turning to her sister.

"Of course," Kori nodded, making everyone turn and stare at her expectantly.

"Well, who is it?" Tauriel prompted when Kori made no move to continue speaking.

"Someone who clearly doesn't want to reveal themselves just yet," she said cryptically. "And when she is, I'm sure she'll let everyone know."

"But--"

"Let's just say there's a very good reason why she hasn't revealed herself and leave it at that for now," Kori insisted in a tone that made it clear the subject was no longer up for discussion.

With a sigh they turned their conversation to other brighter, less confusing and frustrating topics. Such as the costumes they were going to wear to the Great Parade on Durin's Day. Bilbo admitted that he did not know what his was, as Thorin had insisted upon providing it for him and he was quite nervous to find out. Dis and Kori shared a secret look and a knowing smile. There was no doubt in their mind that Bilbo's costume would be quite special and that the Hobbit would quite simply love it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.  
> And thank you so much for your kind comments. I know I'm kind of bad at replying to them most of the time. Sorry.  
> I'm sorry this chapter was a bit shorter than the others and if it was a bit boring. It's kind of just a filler chapter before things start happening in the next one.
> 
> Next Week...Durin's Day, among other things...


	16. Durin's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwalin, Nori and Kori have a not so secret meeting and Durin's Day is celebrated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer than the others to make up for the last one being so short.  
> I hope you like it.

Durin's Day rolled around all too soon and everybody was joyously celebrating the festival of their ancient King. The streets were lit by giant lanterns which illuminated the entire City Under the Mountain even brighter than the world outside was. The deeps tones of Dwarvish singing filled their air as the song of Durin the Great was begun at dawn. The anient song depicting the entire live of the great Durin was so long it would last all seven days of the festival. Everyone was happy and excited on this most amazing day.

For Dwalin, Nori and Kori, however, it was a nightmare day. They had to arrange and maintain the protection of the monarchs, the various guests and everyone else with minimal guard and since Durin's day was one of the few days on which carrying your weapons around with you was forbidden, even for the guards, they had to contend with the use of whatever weapons they could hide on their persons. For Nori and Kori the latter wasn't too much of an issue, since practically all of their weapons were ones they could easily conceal on their persons, but for Dwalin and the Guards this was more of an issue.

Law stated that no one could be forced to work on Durin's Day, so all members of the Guard on duty that day had to be volunteers. Unfortunately that meant there wasn't a lot of them, as most wouldn't want to miss the opertunity to have unlimited free wine, beer, mead and other alcohols. It also meant that those few which did volunteer were some of the most honourable in the Royal Guard and would never agree to wearing concealed weapons, especially not on a day when it was strictly prohibited.

Thankfully, though, Kori had thought of a way around that particular issue.

"Wood," she announced during the strategy meeting the three were holding a few days before the festival.

"'Wood'?" Dwalin echoed in a disbelieving voice.

"Wood," Kori confirmed with a nod.

"I don't get it," the Head Guard said. "Is it some kind of new code for something?"

"No," Kori rolled her eyes. "In the Books of Law it says _'No weapon made of metal, stone or bone, shall be worn on the days of praise for Durin's throne.'_."

She gave the two men opposite her an expectant look, but all she got in return were blank stares. Kori felt the urge to sigh at them and their ignorance. She'd had Lori spent the past three weeks scouring the library for any loophole she may be able to find regarding the weapons on Durin's Day. Finally, last night Lori had found something and since it was the only thing useful that she had found, Kori had to find a way to use it or else they were back to square one.

"I still don't get it," Dwalin said and Kori felt the very strong urge to bash her head against the table.

"How can you not get it? Do you not have a brain?" she wondered.

"Of course he does," Nori said, surprising both Dwalin and Kori that he was defending the other dwarrow. "But he is a guard, so it's only a small one and not used very often."

"Why you little piece of..."

The meeting quickly devolved into Dwalin and Nori chasing each other around the room and trading insult after insult. Kori sat at the stone table with her head in her hands as she watched them with a tired expression on her face. Could these two act anything more like children?

At just that moment who should enter the old stone chamber but the King Under the Mountain himself. Thorin looked between his Spymaster and Head Guard, who had yet to notice his presence, and then at the young spysassin sitting at the table, looking very bored.

"How long have they been like this?" he asked.

"Longer than either of them would ever care to admit," she told him.

Thorin sighed in a way that made him sound almost as put upon as Kori was feeling. No doubt as King he already had a great many problems to deal with and the Royal Spymaster and Head of the Royal Guard acting like children towards each other surely didn't help him any.

"You brainless imbecile. You wouldn't know how to shag anything other than a tree," Nori shouted at Dwalin.

"Oh, no," Kori sighed and buried her head further into her hands.

She could already see where this was heading and it wasn't going to be pretty. Nori still didn't really know about Ori and Dwalin. In fact, no one aside from the sisters and maybe Balin did. And as much as Dwalin loved Ori and would do anything for the scribe, he could get a little carried away when arguing with Nori. It had only been a matter of time before he let something slip.

"That's not what your broth--"

"ENOUGH!" Thorin bellowed, cutting Dwalin off mid-word.

The two Dwarrow that had been chasing each other pulled up short and Kori breathed a sigh of relief. While she did think it was high time that Ori and Dwalin were open about their relationship, blurting it out in the middle of a battle of insults was not the way to go about it.

"What do you both think you are doing?!" Thorin demanded, glaring at two of his closest friends and advisers.

Nori opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by an angry Thorin who immediately began reprimanding them both on their behaviour. Kori leaned back in her seat, crossed her arms and enjoyed the show. She made no real effort to hide her smirk, which earned her twin glares from her father and his once mortal enemy.

"Now, would any of you care to explain the purpose of this meeting and why none of you saw fit to inform your King of it?" Thorin demanded once he finished chewing them out.

"How did you find out about this little...rendez-vous?" Nori asked curiously.

"Lord Ronderi saw fit to inform me of it, which does rather beg the question of why he was aware of it and I was not," Thorin said.

"Of course it was Ronderi," Nori growled. "Just he wait until I..."

The rest of Nori's words were said so quietly they were little more than broken off mutters and judging by the expression on his face his thoughts on the Lord were less than kind.

"What does he have against Lord Ronderi?" Thorin wondered, turning to Kori for an answer.

"A lot," she sighed. "Ronderi has been lobbying for Nori's position as Royal Spymaster ever since he arrived Under the Mountain. He has a fair number of spies, but the information is rarely very accurate or it is passed on too late to be useful. He also has a rather annoying habit of interferring with covert operations at the worst moment possible. In short, your grace, you shouldn't put much stock in what Lord Ronderi tells you."

There was also the small matter of Ronderi attempting to court Tori a few years ago, but Nori didn't really know about that. That was Kori's main reason for hating the Lord. He was a pain and one she couldn't wait to get rid of. Unfortunately, Ronderi had a lot of support among the miners and they wouldn't take kindly to him being removed from his position, much less the Mountain, unless he was very obviously involved in a big public scandal. While Kori and Nori could certainly fabricate a scandal for Ronderi to be involved in, it would take too much time and effort away from other much more pressing matters. Besides, it was only a matter of time before he inevitably messed up on his own. The Royals Spies were patient. They could wait.

"None of you have yet to answer me as to the purpose of this meeting," Thorin said.

Dwalin and Nori took turns explaining the situation to Thorin, both being surprisingly civil about it all considering they were at each others throats not ten minutes before. While Durin's Day was usually a very peaceful festival, this year they knew that something was going to happen, though they weren't quite sure what. With Bilbo and the Red Mountain dwarves there the threat level was imminently higher and they had been searching for ways to get around the _'no weapons'_ law. At this point Kori saw fit to step in and continue where she had left off earlier.

"According to the Books of Law we aren't allowed to carry weapons made of metal, stone or bone," Kori explained. "However, the books make no mention of forbidding wooden weapons. So, bows, slingshots, staffs or batons are perfectly acceptable, so long as they are made of wood and have no metal, stone or bone in them."

"Surely you cannot seriously be suggesting that we have the Royal Guard walk around on Durin's Day carrying wooden weapons," Dwalin demanded. "It would be an insult to force them to do so."

"If I was trying to insult them then I would suggest they carry about poisons and powders," Kori responded tartly. "It's either wooden weapons or they conceal their real ones."

Wooden weapons were a sign of poverty and low status. Among dwarves, only the very poorest of the poor couldn't afford metal weapons. To see the Royal Guard wear them would definitely been seen as an insult, but at least it would mean they were armed and the chance of safety greater. While poisons and explosive powders were a step up from wood weapons, they were seen as a cowards choice and no honourable Dwarf would wear them. Thus the wood weapons were the lesser of the two evils.

"While your ingenuity is to be applauded, we do not have sufficient wood-crafters with Erebor to create the amount of weapons required within the next few days," Thorin argued.

"What of the Master Weapons Smiths? And if they cannot themselves, then surely they could spare some their apprentices for the task," Kori said.

"And insult the next generation of Master Weapons Smiths?" Dwalin shook his head. "That is a risk we cannot take."

"How could it be an insult if the request came from the King himself? Surely any apprentice would count themselves blessed at the opportunity to craft something for the Royal Guard," she said. "Not to mention that they will most likely be making many more such weapons in the future. We need to diversify our methods of combat. If the Battle of the Five Armies taught us anything it is that we must maintain alliances with the other Kingdoms of Middle-Earth and retrain our armies to defend against the broader threat at large. We must add archers and a cavalry to our ranks, though this is a matter better discussed at another time."

Even though it wasn't technically her job to, Kori was very concerned with the state of the Erebor army and wouldn't stop pushing for reforms to be made. Technically, as Head Guard Dwalin was in charge of the army and only he or Thorin and Fili could make changes to how things were done, but that didn't stop Kori from trying. Especially since none of them seemed to be doing anything about it at the moment.

"You know, I hear the elves are very fine wood-crafters. It's a shame we didn't invite any of them other than Tauriel. Perhaps they would be willing to make us some anyway," Kori suggested.

Her words had the desired effect and immediately the three Dwarrow were insisting that the quality of any elvish weapons couldn't possibly compare to those of the Dwarves.

"Excellent," she smiled. "In that case I am sure there shall be no problem with asking the wood-crafters and apprentice weapon smiths to make make them."

"No, of course not."

"I'm insulted you would even suggest otherwise."

"I am sure they would be happy to help."

"Wonderful," Kori smiled all too sweetly as she got up from her seat. "Until next time, my lords."

Not a moment later and she had disappeared from the room, leaving the door wide open.

"Did she just manipulate us into doing exactly what she wanted?" Nori wondered after a moment.

"She a woman. Of course she did," Thorin sighed. "Just think of Dis."

The other two made loud sounds of agreement.

"Perhaps we should let her loose on the Council," Dwalin's gruff voice suggested.

"Nah, letting Rori loose would be far more entertaining," Nori said.

"Who is Rori?" Thorin asked.

"Erm...

Kori made no effect to hide her satisfied smirk as she slinked away into the shadows.

 

****

 

The parade and ceremony had gone off without a hitch and now they were in the Great Hall for the Grand Feast. Food and alcohol flowed freely and there was much laughter, dancing and merry making. While the presence of wooden weapons on the Royal Guards persons had raised many an eyebrow, everyone was too caught up in the revelries to comment on it.

Thorin sat at the Head Table with Fili, Dis and Bilbo on one side of him and the Red Mountain's King, Princess and Lord on the other. The Company and their families sat at the noblemen's table just below the Head Table. Tori was bedecked in silver and rubies, her beauty making many a dwarrow jealous of Gimli who was seated next to her possessively. Lori sat next to Tauriel and wore a gown of deep forest green, embroidered with emeralds and silver leaves in a show of solidarity for her best friend.

Rori looked like an innocent little doll in her peach dress with cream ribbons woven into her hair. She was enjoying being lavished by attention from Bofur and Bifur, whom she was sitting between, and Lady Brundi, who was opposite her. When Bofur introduced her to the Company as his adoptive niece, she had everyone cooing over her in minutes.

Nori was the only member of the Company not sitting at one of the High Tables and had instead found himself a seat among some of the more friendly miners with whom he would enjoy the occasional drink at the tavern. His eyes were darting everywhere all at once to make sure there was no sign of trouble in the Great Hall.

Kori was dressed a simple, but flattering blue gown, with her hair braided around her head in a crown, with ribbons and small sapphires woven into it. She blended in easily with the crowd who were mostly dressed in blues, greys and purples. No one gave her a second glance, except for a pair of Durin blue eyes that followed her everywhere. She had noticed the Crown Prince staring the moment he started, but did her best to ignore him as she made polite conversation with the group of giggling young Dams she had ingratiated herself with.

They were about two hours into the feast and nothing had happened yet. Father and daughter's eyes met across the crowd and they shared an almost unnoticeable nod. A second later Nori excused himself from his drinking companions and made his way over to where Kori was. After paying the appropriate, if short, greetings to the young ladies, he held out his hand to Kori and asked her to dance. The young dams giggled and shared looks among themselves, even as they pushed their companion off her seat and towards the handsome older dwarrow that had deemed her worthy of his attentions.

As they danced, every now and then Nori would say something so softly it was indiscernible to anyone who was not his dance partner and Kori would giggle at little and respond in kind. To anyone looking on it would have seemed like just another dwarrow flirting with his dance partner, but really they were trading notes on everything that was going on around them. However, as the dancing wore on it became increasingly harder to ignore the glare from the Head Table that was burning a hole in their backs.

"Is there a reason why the Crown Prince has spent most of the evening watching you and is currently glaring at me rather viciously?" Nori wondered eventually.

Kori bit back a sigh. She had known he would ask that question eventually, but she had hoped he wouldn't just yet. The truth was that she wasn't sure why Fili was staring, but she had her suspicions. He probably recognised as the dam he had danced with at the Ball a few months back and she could already tell that it was only a matter of time before he would come stomping over to her, demanding to know where she had been.

"Your guess is as good as mine," she told her father, which wasn't a complete lie.

Nori opened his mouth to respond, but something happening over his shoulder caught her attention. She noticed as the Red King took Thorin's empty goblet and dropped an small sachet of something into it before he poured wine into the gold bejeweled goblet. It had been done so quickly and with such well timed execution that no one but Kori and her watchful eyes had noticed. The Red King passed it on to Thorin with a smile and Thorin raised the goblet in toast to the fellow ruler. He put it to his lips, but was distracted from taking the first sip by some funny comment that Bilbo made, as the Mountain King laughed and placed the goblet down. Kori breathed out an almost unnoticeable sigh of relief.

"Thorin's drink," she breathed in Nori's ear as she pretended to trip so she could lean closer to his ear.

Nori gave her an almost indiscernible nod and spun her off to another partner so he could weaved his way through the dancers towards the Head Table. Kori watched from her position on the dance floor as Lord Ronderi made his way along the Head Table and discretely switched Thorin's goblet for Bilbo's as he distracted everyone with a jest. Perhaps Kori had been the only one to notice the Red King's actions.

Nori, who reached the Head Table mere seconds after Ronderi left it, had noticed what the foul Lord had done. As Bilbo raised the goblet to his lips, Nori knew he had to act fast.

Kori watched in horror as her father took the drink right out of Bilbo's hands and downed it in one. The Spymaster had only just finished his drink when he fell to the grown, foaming at the mouth and writhing in agony.

"ADAD!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun, dun, dun!  
> Cliffhanger...


	17. Poison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of last week...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little warning, Kori goes a bit psycho and tortury, so if that's not for you then you may want to skip the first half of this chapter. Sorry.

"ADAD!"

Tori's cry startled the room into action as rushed from her place next to Gimli to where her father lay writhing on the floor.

"Adad?" Gimli echoed, turning very pale.

In an instant Oin was next to the Spymaster and looking him over. Tori did her best to hold her had her father's head still in her lap. Rori kicked and screamed against Bofur who was clutching her to his chest to prevent her from running to her Adad. She was too young to watch her only parent die. Lori was next to Oin in a moment, studying her father and his symptoms with wide eyes.

While Dwalin felt the urge to race to Ori's side and comfort his beloved, his duty came first. Ignoring Thorin's protesting, Dwalin grabbed the King and dragged him out of the Grand Hall. Dis followed close to their heels with a shell shocked Bilbo in her arms.

"We need to move him," Oin announced. "Dori, Ori, Bifur, Bombur, help me lift him, but do it gently."

"We can't move him! If we do he might die!" Lori cried.

"He's been writhing and foaming for nigh five minutes now. The fact he's not dead yet tells me he still has a lot of fight left in him," Oin told her.

Lori couldn't argue with that. The legendary 'Ri stubbornness ran strong in her father, just like everyone else in her family. He wasn't one to give in easily, or ever. Glancing around she noticed Kori was nowhere in sight. Hopefully her sister would be back soon with a cure.

 

****

 

"Where is it?"

The chemist spun around at the sound of the cold, hard voice coming from behind him. He felt his breath stop when he realised who it was. Everyone who lived, worked or had anything even remotely to do with the Shadow Court knew or had at least heard of the black shrouded figure who stalked the dark, twisted alleyways of the Court. If you were so unfortunate as to cross paths with the hooded figure then you were as good as dead.

"Whe--where is...where is what?" the chemist finally managed to stutter out.

"Don't play games with me, Mekken. I am not in the mood," she warned. "Besides, we both know you know what I mean. So, I repeat, where is it?"

Mekken took an involuntary step back. He did know what she as talking about. Word spread fast through Under the Mountain, especially when that word was that the Royal Spymaster had been poisoned after drinking from the chalice intended for the beloved of the King Under the Mountain. Were he a smarter dwarf than he was, Mekken probably would have realised that as Erebor's foremost authority on poisons, he would very soon receive a visit from one of the Spymaster's minions. This, however, was no ordinary minion.

Kori raised an impatient eyebrow at the trembling dwarf before her. Were this any other situation, perhaps his fear would have been amusing to her, but right now all she wanted was answers and fast. She knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth to tell her. She could tell by the way he licked his lips before lying through his teeth.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know what you're talking about," he said.

Her face hardened and the fire in her eyes intensified. A moment later he was trapped against the hard, cold stone wall with a knife embedded through his upper arm.

"Don't take me for a fool," she warned. " _Ikunka_ is very a very rare and potent poison and you are the only apothecary this side of the Misty Mountains that is fool enough to sell it. Any apothecary worth their salt knows how dangerous it is to handle and would never go near it without having the antidote close at hand. I know it was you who sold the poison and we will be having a very lengthy discussion as to just whom that was in just a moment, but for right now I want to know where you have the antidote. I won't ask you again."

The chemist swallowed hard and bit back a grimace of pain. Living in the Shadow Court you learnt to take a beating, but usually it was a few punches to the face or getting a few toes or fingers chopped off. Kori was different in her approach when gathering information through more violent means. Decades of study and practice had taught her the best way to inflict the most amount of pain without causing the subject to black out, bleed out or die prematurely. While she didn't use this particular skill set very often, she was still as much of an expert in it as she was with everything else.

"I don't have any antidote," Mekken lied.

He let out a loud cry of pain as another knife embedded itself in him, but this time in the opposite arm to the first. Kori waited for him to stop screaming and to focus on her before speaking.

"In case you haven't figured it out by now, every time you lie to me you get another knife embedded somewhere in your body and a knife to a large chunk of muscle mass equals a lot of pain," she told him. "For once in your miserable life be smart and tell me what I want to know. You don't owe anything to whomever it is that employed you and they certainly wouldn't be as protective of you if your roles were reversed."

She waited impatiently as the dwarrow seemed to mull this over. Her fingers twitched around the knife in her grasp. Adrenaline was pumping through her system and it was taking all her self-control not to hunt down Ronderi and the Red King and kill the bloody bastards for what they did. The only thought stopping her from doing just that was knowing that Nori's life was at stake and that if she didn't get the antidote to him within the next few hours he was a dead man.

Finally seeming to realise the truth in her words, the apothecary opened his mouth to speak just as she was about to throw a third knife at him.

"It's in the back," Mekken told her, his head slumping in defeat. "Third shelf from the top."

Without saying another word Kori darted into the back of the shop. It didn't take her long to locate the appropriate vial. The idiot had everything neatly labeled, which really wasn't very smart given the constant back-stabbing that went on where he lived and worked. Once she had the vial in hand she didn't look back as she left the small, out of the way shop with it's proprietor still hanging on the wall.

"Wait! What about me?! You cannot leave me here to die!" he shouted after her.

Kori ignored his cries and pleas as she slinked away into the shadows. She would come back for him later and take him somewhere she could interrogate him further. Right now, she had her father to save.

 

****

 

Nori had been lain down on the large bed in the chambers he shared with Bofur. Once the number of people in the room got too distracting, Oin kicked them all out so he could tend to Nori in peace. Lori was allowed to remain and aide the old healer, while Bofur also stayed as he refused to leave the side of his One.

When Bifur and Bombur had heard their kinsman refer to the former thief as his One, all hell had very nearly broken loose. Though they were on good terms with Nori, the 'Urs still frowned on his past and had no problem loudly voicing their concerns about the relationship. Suffice to say that Dori and Ori took exception to the things said about their brother and were quick to rise to his defense. Yes, Nori had his faults, he had a lot of them, but he was still family.

In the end it was only when Thorin arrived and started shouting at them all to shut up that things started to calm down. The King called an Inner Council meeting to discuss what had happened and what steps should be taken next. The 'Ris argued that they couldn't leave Nori alone now of all times, but eventually they realised Thorin's suggestion for what it was. A distraction.

The Inner Council normally consisted of the Company and Lady Dis and was much smaller than the 40 plus members of the Royal Council. Ladies Tauriel, Brundi and Tori were invited to join the Inner Council for this meeting, although Gimli was refused entrance, much to the young dwarrow's annoyance. Instead he was left to play with Rori in the sitting room adjoined Rori and Bofur's bedchamber.

The Inner Council had only just gone into session when Kori materialised out of the shadows of the sitting room. Ignoring the startled yelp that Gimli gave out, she slipped into the room where Nori's prone form was laying. A few minutes later she exited the room and was on her way out of the sitting room when Rori's little hand grabbing the corner of the ball gown she still hadn't changed out of stopped her.

"What's the matter, sweetling?" Kori asked gently, noticing the emotions playing over her little sister's face.

"Is Adad going to die?" Rori asked, her voice and lip trembling as she tried her best not to cry.

"No, sweetling," Kori smiled softly, bending down so she was at a level with her baby sister. "Now that he's had the antidote, he's going to be just fine. He's going to be very tired and weak for a while, but he is going to get better. We're all just going to have to be very careful with him for a long time."

"Bud...bud he was shaking and..." Rori trailed off as the tears slipped down her cheek.

Kori's normally absent maternal instincts kicked in and she wrapped Rori up in a big hug, allowing the dwarfling to cry against her shoulder. She rubbed her back and whispered soothing words in her ear, promising again and again that everything was going to be alright.

 

****

 

"I'm confused," Lady Dis said. "Are you not the official Deputy Royal Spymaster, or, rather, Spymistress?"

Tori rubbed her temples and sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time in the past twenty minutes. Ever since Lori had come into the Secret Chambers and told the Inner Council that the antidote had been found and administered everyone had been demanding to know what the poison was, who had put it in Bilbo's drink and how Nori knew about it. Unfortunately for them, while Tori had inherited her fathers looks, she hadn't inherited his know it all knowledge of everything. No, that had been passed on to Kori and Lori instead.

"Technically, yes, but that doesn't mean I know everything," Tori pointed out slowly. "I'm just a paper pusher. I write the reports on matters that can be written about. Honestly, I don't even know half the things that go in Erebor. The one you need to talk to is Kori. She's Adad's real second-in-command."

"Well, then where is she?" Lady Dis demanded.

"I'm not sure," Tori said, looking around for any sign of her younger sister even though she knew there would be none.

"She was around here not too long ago," Lori said, trying to be helpful. "She was the one that gave Oin the antidote."

"Find her. Bring her here. We must speak with her," Thorin decided.

"Much like with Adad, you don't find Kori. Kori finds you," Lori told him, then seemingly realised who she was talking to. "Your grace."

"Well, surely you must have a way to contact her in case of emergency," Balin said diplomatically. "And I am sure we can all agree that this is an emergency."

Everyone around the table nodded their heads in agreement and Tori sighed. She didn't have a way to contact Kori. Whenever something happened, her sister had a knack for appearing exactly when she was needed. It had never occurred to Tori that there might one day come a situation when she needed to contact Kori like this. Well, there was only one thing to do now.

"KORI!" Tori closed her eyes and shouted as loud as she could.

"You screeched, sister," Kori said, materialising out of the shadows by the door and making everyone else in the room jump and reach for their weapons.

While she had changed from her blue gown to her everyday, all black attire, she had left her hair as it was at the feast and only removed the jewels for safe keeping. The hood of her ever present cape was down, so everyone could see her face. Her eyes were cold as eyes and her feature were blank.

Fili stared at her in shock. Could this really be his One? Had she really been there all this time without him realising it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the scare last week, but I promise Nori is going to be just fine.  
> Just so you know, I could never kill Nori. He's too precious for that. Besides, I can't deal with characters dying. I had to resurrect Thorin, Fili and Kili because the end of the book and films left me emotionally scarred.  
> Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you liked it.
> 
>  
> 
> Next Week...Justice for Nori


	18. Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Justice for Nori...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, slight warning that Kori goes a little psycho, but much less so than before.

Nori awoke less than a day after he downed the poisoned chalice. Thanks to the close attentions of Oin, Bofur and his two youngest daughters he was swiftly recovering, although he was still too weak to do anything other than lay in bed. It was driving his overactive mind stir-crazy, so Lori searched the depths of the libraries to find the most challenging riddles she could and present them to her father to puzzle over.

For the first time in his life Nori found himself having long, intelligent conversations with his daughter about everything and nothing. He'd known she was smart, Kori had told him so many times, and he had used her brains for research, but they'd never really actually talked.

Nori had decided early on into his fatherhood that talking to his daughters was not a good idea. Whenever he conversed with Tori they would usually end up arguing and shouting at each other. She was worse than Dori with her criticism. Thankfully she turned it down when the younger ones were around, but if it was just them or Kori, too, then she had no problem with ripping into him for whatever it was he had done.

Kori was the one he spoke to most, but it was only ever about business. Occasionally she would make off-handed comments about things that were not work related, but he rarely paid attention to them. Now that he actually had time to stop and think about it, Kori was with daughter he actually knew the least about. She never said anything about her own thoughts and feelings, only mentioning those of others.

When Lori was a baby she wasn't interesting enough to actually talk to and by the time she had grown up enough he had decided it wasn't worth it. He was so sure that she would turn out more like Tori than Kori and just constantly yell at him about one thing or another. Now, however, he found her mind fascinating and couldn't wait to get to know her better.

While Rori was too young to provide particularly stimulating conversation, she was still more than entertaining. She would spend hours telling him of all the mischief that she and her sister had gotten up to over the years. Some of the things she told him had him seriously questioning and berating himself for his ignorance.

One thing was becoming abundantly clear to him and that was how little he truly knew his daughters. It was suddenly hitting him just how much he had to catch up on. He could only hope it wasn't too late.

 

****

 

Over the course of the week Thorin, Dwalin and Tori were locked away in near constant meetings with the Inner and Larger Council regarding the events at the feast. During every session the Council members seemed to do little else than just interrogate Tori for information. To her credit she held up exceptionally well to all their questioning and not once did she cave into them. It was necessary for her to attend the meetings as she was officially the acting Spymistress, even though technically that was actually what Kori was doing.

Kori spent the entire week milking every possible source for information and evidence. If Thorin was going to accuse a King of attempted murder, and he had made it more then clear that he was, then they needed conclusive, undeniable and unquestionable proof.

Occasionally the Crown Prince would try to follow her and she always knew when he did. Fili was not nearly as stealthy as he seemed to think he was. Sometimes she would let him follow her and other times she wouldn't. It depended on where she was going and what she was doing. She knew that she was his One and as such he would accept her no matter what, but that didn't mean he had to know _every_ dark little thing that she was capable of. Besides, she wasn't sure whether or not _he_ was _her_ One.

If she ended up rejecting him, either because he wasn't her One or for some other reason, then it would be easier on everyone if they weren't too attached to each other, so, for now, that meant keeping him at arms length. This was proving difficult, however, as Fili was nothing if not persistent, especially since her sisters and his brother had decided to help him.

Fili's enamourment and Kori's reluctance to allow him near her for any length of time hadn't gone un-noticed. Whenever Kori decided to turn up to an Inner Council meeting and give a report, Fili would always make a point of sitting next to her and she would always make a point of ignoring him and his numerous advances.

 

****

 

Balin and Thorin were in the King's study, having a soothing drink after a very long and very tedious Council meeting when the subject of Fili and Kori inevitably came up.

"I have often thought of the type of Queen she would make," Balin commented. "I think she would be a good one. Unconventional, of course, but a good one none the less. Who knows, perhaps even a great one."

"What are you talking about?" Thorin demanded. "Nori's bastard is never going to become Queen."

"Then you're going to have to have quite the conversation with your nephew," Balin told him. "He's already set his heart and head on marrying the girl. You could always threaten to disown him if he attempted to marry her, but I doubt that would work. He would probably step down of his own volition if it meant he could have her and I think we all know that Kili is not best suited to the position of King."

"Balin, she is a bastard," Thorin reiterated. "That fact alone would make it impossible for her to marry a noble, let alone a royal, not to mention the Crown Prince."

"But, Thorin, she is his _One_ and whether she realises it yet or not he is hers," Balin said. "According to laws that are even more ancient than those concerning the marital rights of bastards, if you have found your true One, then it does not matter if you are a bastard born, are courting another or have been married before, you have the right to marry your One. In fact, in most cases it's out right expected of you. So, you see, Thorin, there are no laws that could stop their union should they chose for it to take place."

Thorin sighed and slumped back in his chair.

"I'm only just getting used to the idea of having an elf as a niece-in-law. I don't think I can handle the thought of having an assassin as our future queen just yet," he said.

"If it's any consolation, I don't think you need to worry about Fili and Kori just yet," Balin told him. "If her current behaviour is any indication she won't be letting him even attempt to court her for at least a decade, so you are safe. For now."

Thorin glared at his long time adviser, who was doing a poor job of hiding his grin.

"You're enjoying this far too much," he glared.

"But, of course, my old friend," Balin laughed. "I consider it the gods repayment for all the times you gave me grey hair as a dwarfling."

 

****

 

Finally Kori had her sister call an Inner Council meeting where she proceeded to present all the evidence and testimonies to the extended Company. They sat largely in silence as they listened to her, saving their questions until the end.

"And what of the poison?" Dis asked. "You found the anti-dote in a matter of hours. You have told us how they got it, but not why they chose that particular one."

"It is difficult to say why they chose it," Kori admitted. "The chemist certainly didn't know. However, it was the most expensive one he had on offer. It is possible that, like with so many other things, the noble assumed that greater cost meant greater quality and effectiveness. In this case it just meant it was rarer and more painful than most."

"You say it is rare and yet you recognised it immediately," Balin commented. "Have you come across this particular poison before?"

"Yes," Kori nodded, but didn't elaborate further. "Normally it wouldn't be quite so dramatic. **Ikunka** is potent, if slow working. You only need a small pinch in jug of mead and you could poison at least a dozen people with it. An entire bag in something the size of the goblet was far more than was necessary. It quite literally eats your internal organs and reduces them to liquid mush, making the process a very slow and torturous one. However, it does not matter how much you give someone, it takes at a day to actually kill them, during which time you can find the anti-dote. Apparently Mekken failed to mention this little fact to the buyer."

"I'm still confused about something," Bilbo spoke up. "Where they all working together or it all just chance."

"That is uncertain. There are two possibilities. Either the Red King and Lord Ronderi were working together and the plan was to kill you both," Kori said, looking between Thorin and Bilbo. "Or the Red King was only intending to kill Thorin and Lord Ronderi saw an opportunity and took it to get rid of Bilbo. But either way you look at it, they were both intending to kill at least one of you. Now, for diplomatic and political reasons, you cannot prosecute the Red King. To do so would be to start a war which we are not prepared for at this time. The best thing you can do regarding him is to make his actions public and have him banished from Erebor. Since we do not yet know who else among the Red Mountain dwarves may have been aiding their King, as Mekken's description of the buyer was too broad to be narrowed down to a single person, legally you cannot touch them, but they should be honourable enough to leave with their King."

"And what do you suggest we do with Lord Ronderi?" Thorin demanded after a moment, eyeing Kori carefully. "He attempted to kill his King's One. By rights his life should be forfeit."

"Oh, I have plenty of ideas as to what to do with him," Kori told him darkly. "Death is too merciful a punishment for the likes of him. Besides, you said you wished to bring a new peaceful era to the Mountain. One of the best ways to do that is to stop executions from happening. There are many ways of punishing someone that do not involve death."

"You have not answered my question," Thorin said tersely.

"But I have, my lord," she disagreed. "You asked what I suggested you do and I suggested that you do not kill him."

"And if I do not kill him, what would you do with him instead?" he challenged.

Kori was silent as she thought the situation over for a moment. She knew Thorin was testing her, though she couldn't quite figure out why just yet.

"Shave him and shame him," she said after a moment. "Cut off his thumbs and middle fingers so he cannot hold sword, axe, knife, nor any other weapon. Have him and his family stripped of rank, title and station. Banish him from the Mountain, to return upon pain of death."

"And you think that sufficient punishment for his actions?" Thorin asked, raising an eyebrow as he studied the young dam before him.

"No, but it is more than what is just," she answered honestly. "But it is not my thoughts that matter. I am not the one passing judgement over him. So, tell me, my King, how do _you_ intend to punish them for their actions?"

 

****

 

The following day the Mountain was thrown into uproar once again as the people awoke to the news that Lord Ronderi had been arrested for attempted regicide and the Red King confined to his quarters for the exact same reason. Kori had all of her and Nori's minions spread the story of what Ronderi and the Red King had done before Ronderi and the Red King's minions could try and convince people of their innocence.

Suffice to say that the Red Court was not pleased with what they viewed as the wrongful imprisonment of their King. The Red Prince was more than adamant that his father be released and the Princess even tried seducing Thorin, Fili and Kili in an attempt to have her father freed. Dis was furious at the Princess for even trying such a thing and had her immediately confined to quarters.

After a long conversation with Thorin and Fili behind closed doors, the Red Prince stopped demanding his family members' freedom and threatening war if the line of Durin didn't comply. Thorin left the chambers absolutely glowing with pride and it wasn't hard to guess that it had been Fili who soothed things over with the Red Prince. That evening Thorin confided in Bilbo that despite his nephew's unfortunate taste in soulmates, Thorin knew that Fili would make a good king one day.

 

****

 

The trial was a short affair that was only put on for the sake of making everything official. Everybody knew it, even if nobody said it. Of course, the Red King, Ronderi and Mekken all argued against the trial going ahead so quickly as it had only been a day since the public announcement of their crimes, but they had already lost all support that they might have had Under the Mountain for attempting to harm the people's beloved monarch and his One. Much to Bofur and the 'Ri family's annoyance, no one seemed particularly bothered that the trio were responsible for Nori almost dying.

The actual trial didn't even last a whole day. In fact, it was barely a few hours long. Thorin passed his judgement quickly and with the indisputable evidence no one could object. The Red King was returned to his chambers until it was time for his banishing ceremony the following day. The Large Council followed out of the Court Room and into a large chamber adjacent to it.

The room was circular in shape and consisted of several layers of stands and seats around the edge of it, all looking over a pit in the middle of the room. In the centre of the pit was large metal device that looked something like a printing press, but it was too sharp and warped to be one. This fact was only confirmed when Ronderi was brought out into the pit and stapped to the device.

"What is that thing?" Bilbo demanded, staring at the metal contraption in the middle of the chamber with distaste.

"That is the **Ikunzumikunbak** ," Lori said from next to him.

"And what does that mean?" Bilbo asked, swallowing against the lump in his throat.

"It means _'device of great pain and torture'_ ," she told him, her face grim. "You can tell we're really great at giving things inventive names."

Lori was just about to suggest they take a seat when Kori appeared behind them.

"Lori, why don't you take Bilbo to go visit Adad?" she suggested, giving her sister a very pointed look. "I'm sure he would much appreciate the company."

"But--" Lori tried to object, but upon seeing the look on Kori's face she changed her mind and sighed. "Very well, but I'll be back soon. I want to see the bas--"

"You will do no such thing," Kori told her firmly. "If you so much as walked past the corridor that leads to this room then the guards have orders to arrest you and they won't be gentle about it."

"You can't do that!" Lori objected.

"I can and I am," Kori said before leaning in close to her sister and whispering in her ear. "You don't need to see what is going to happen here and neither does Bilbo. Trust me, he will suffer, but I will not have you watch it. You are too young to have a heart of stone. Do you understand?"

Lori swallowed and nodded her head.

"Come along, Bilbo," she said, grabbing the Hobbit's hand and dragging him out of the room. "We had best be going. If we walk quickly we can be there in time for afternoon tea."

The Hobbit and scholar had barely left the chamber when the first torturous screams erupted from inside. Digging deep, they forced themselves not to turn around and just keep walking.

 

****

 

Everyone in Erebor turned up to watch as King Thorin stood high on the battlements and banished the Red King from the Mountain. The people of Durin were silent as they watched the Red Prince and Princess chase after their father, with their courtiers not far behind.

The silence immediately dissipated into howls of outrage, anger, insult and jeering as the former Lord Ronderi and the traitours chemist Mekken were brought out. Their banishing ceremony was short and soon both the broken dwarves were making their way far from the Mountain which they had once called home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it and found this sufficient justice for Nori.  
> I've almost finished Little Thieves and Spies and am thinking of doing another little series set in the future, roughly before and around the events of LotR. It won't be posted for a while, but what would you guys like to happen to the characters in the future?
> 
> Next week...something hopefully less serious.


	19. I can't think of a title

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rori is think and has some fun with Fili...

Rori sat cross-legged on the floor by her bed with her head resting on her fists. She was bored, so bored. Nothing interesting was happening anymore. Everyone was busy with something and she wasn't.

What little time Tori wasn't spending stuck in Council meetings now that she was _'Acting Royal Spymistress'_ , she was with Gimli. Rori didn't mind Gimli. He was funny, even if he was a bit full of himself. She had no problem with spending time with him, even though he was terrible at looking after her and she always had to explain everything to him, but whenever he and Tori were together all they seemed to do now was kiss and stuff. Rori didn't want to be around when they were doing that.

Lori had been spending a lot of time with Balin and Ori in the depths of the Royal library, where it was cold, dark and dusty. Rori wasn't exactly sure what it was they were looking for, but she knew they had to be there looking for something. They would spend days on end down there, searching through the ancient tombes. Whenever Lori would resurface for a while she would bathe and then go straight to bed. Apparently whatever they were looking for warranted sleep-deprivation. Rori had yet to reach an age were that kind of reading could possibly be considered fun.

Adad had more free time than ever right now, as he was still recovering from being poisoned a few months ago. She could always go and bother him, but he couldn't move very well and was confined by Oin to either his bed or the armchair by the fire, which made him considerably less fun.

Papa Bofur was always fun, but ever since the Durin's Day feast he refused to leave Adad's side. This wasn't really a problem, except for the fact that it meant that if Rori wanted to play with him she had to do it in the same room as Adad, who would more than likely be sleeping so she would have to be quiet. Adad and Kori told her that practicing being quiet was a good thing, but she didn't always want to be quiet.

Normally Rori could count on Kori to be up to making some mischief with her during times like this, but she was busy avoiding the Crown Prince and doing even more spy stuff than usual since Adad couldn't.

Everything was changing and Rori didn't like it. She knew that change wasn't always a bad thing. Moving from the Blue Mountains to Erebor had been a good change, even though leaving the only home she had known until then was scary. Adad and Papa Bofur realising they were each other's One's was a good change, even if it meant that she spent even less time with Adad than previously. Bilbo coming to stay in the Mountain had been a good change, even though it meant her Adad had almost died.

Now, however, things were changing in a different way. The people who had always been the same were changing too. Tori and Brundi were already planning the wedding, even though Gimli had yet to propose to his One. Lori had taken on an apprenticeship under Ori and was now spending more time in the library than ever before. And it was only a matter of time before Kori became Queen.

Rori wasn't sure if she was going to like this change.

 

****

 

Fili gave a huff of annoyance as he stomped out of the Council chambers. As per usual, none of the idiots in there were taking him seriously, and that included his Uncle and Balin. Half of them didn't think he was a suitable candidate to be the next King of Erebor and the only reason why the put up with him and he had yet to wake up with a knife embedded in his back was because he was the better option than his elf loving brother.

Still, this didn't stop the Council members from thinking they could walk all over him. All of the ones with unmarried daughters or sisters and even the ones who didn't have, were practically throwing them at Thorin in a desperate attempt to get their King to select a wife and reproduce a male heir. Something none of the idiots seemed to realise, however, was that when Thorin had ascended to the throne he changed the laws of succession.

Now, it did not matter if you were the King's eldest born son, you wouldn't necessarily be the first in line. The King could choose his successor by specifically announcing them as such to the entire Mountain. On multiple occasions Thorin had done so with Fili, leaving no doubt in any of the people's minds as to who their future ruler would be. If only the Council members could get it through their thick skulls that no matter what they tried Fili would still be their next King it would make everything so much easier.

"Are you always dis grumpy?" Fili spun around at the unexpected voice only to find the youngest of the 'Ri sisters standing behind him.

He hadn't heard or sensed anyone sneaking up on him. He hated the thought that he could have been so completely oblivious as to walk just walk passed her. He knew that his once honed warrior skills and sense had suffered from his time of wallowing, but he hadn't thought they were that bad. The only thing that made him feel even just a little bit better was the fact that she was a 'Ri and as even Dori and Ori had proven on multiple occasions, 'Ri's were masters and mistresses of stealth and underhandedness.

"If you are, den I can undersdand why Kori doesn'd like spending dime wid you," she continued when he failed to answer her. "You don'd have do be happy all the dime, bud id wouldn'd kill you to smile ad leasd once in a while. Even Kori does somedimes and she sees worse dings dan you do on a daily basis."

He stared at her for a moment, unsure of how to take what she had just said. A part of him wondered if he had just been insulted, while another part eagerly lapped up the little tidbit of information on his One, whom he still knew so little about.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked almost automatically.

Rori tilted her head to the side for a moment as she seemed to consider his offer before making up her mind and answering.

"Yes, dere is," she nodded. "I'm bored and everybody else is always busy."

"What makes you think I have time to play with little children?" Fili challenged. "I am Crown Prince of Erebor and I have important work to be doing."

"Yes, a Crown Prince dat jusd god kicked oud of the Council Chambers by his uncle," she summerised, giving him a very unimpressed look that he could so easily picture coming from the face of her older sister. "Besides, no one is ever doo busy for revenge."

"You have my attention," Fili said, immediately perking up at the idea of getting back at the foul, stuck up, mothballed members of the Large Council whom he each hated in equal measure.

"So here's the plan..." Rori began.

Sharing twin evil grins they set to work and began plotting.

 

****

 

It hadn't taken Fili and Rori long to come up with a suitable plan and put it in motion. With a little ingenuity and at lot of stealth and skulking through the shadows of the wealthy area of the City surrounding the Palace. When the Council members woke up the following morning they wouldn't know what hit them.

Dusk had long since settled outside the Mountain by the time that they were done. All the excitement had tired little Rori out and when Fili had noticed she was starting to doze off on her feet, he had picked her up and carried her. It was a little difficult as he still relied on his cane for balance a lot of the time, but he managed.

"You can led me down here," Rori told him when they arrived at a familiar crevice which led to the 'Ri families appartments.

"There you are, my lady," he said and let her down of his shoulder.

"Dank you for having fun with me," she said and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"You're welcome, little monkey," he smiled, hugging her back. "Thank you for helping me take my revenge on those idiots."

"I'm glad you'll be my broder," she whispered in his ear.

Fili froze in shock at her words. Rori took this opportunity to squeeze him tightly one more time before letting go and darting off into the darkness. He stared after her for a moment, stunned and not too sure what just happened. Did Rori know something he didn't? Probably. All 'Ri's seemed to know something more than everyone else.

"Thank you," a voice said softly from behind him.

Fili jumped at the unexpected sound of her voice, but quickly composed himself and slowly turned around to face her.

"She enjoyed today," Kori said, her eyes looking past him to the door that Rori had passed through.

"Why do you keep avoiding me?" he blurted out.

His question must have caught her off guard if the way she blinked at him in surprise was any indication. Kori quickly composed herself and any crack that had appeared in mask of studied indifference for even just a fraction of a second was quickly repaired.

"Because you don't want me," she told him matter-of-factly.

Fili stared at her, his mouth hanging agape. How could she possibly think that he didn't want her? She was all he wanted. Had he somehow not made that clear enough?

"What do you mean 'I don't want you'?!" he demanded. "Of course I want you."

"Well, you shouldn't," she snapped, her tone changing and turning sharp quickly.

"And why is that?" he challenged, not willing to give in or give up.

"Because no one would want someone like me," she told him. "I hurt people for a living. I'm a murderer. I've killed people."

"You think no one has died by my hand? I am far from innocent myself," he admitted.

"Yes, but you have killed honourably in battle, when your opponent had a weapon in their hand," she retorted. "I have sliced the throats of mothers as they slept, poisoned children and literally ripped out the hearts of men. I have been trained as an assassin, not a warrior like you. Honour is something I do not have. You do not want to be around someone like that."

"Why don't you let me decide that for myself?" he sighed, his patience beginning to wear thin.

Kori's face was a blank mask of emotionlessness, but inside her mind was in turmoil. She had just told him some of the worst things she had done over the years and yet he still wasn't running away from her. But did she really want him to run away? She wasn't sure. Maybe he was worth at least giving a chance.

"Very well," she nodded slowly, almost cautiously. "But you have got to stop trying to stalk me. The fact that you even seem to think I wouldn't notice is just insulting, not to mention that you are just plain terrible at it."

The look of pure joy that had lit up his face when she agreed dimmed momentarily, but quickly reappeared.

"Deal," he laughed, sticking his hand out for her to shake.

Kori hesitated a moment before shaking it. She gave him a silent nod and slipped passed him and disappeared through the same crack in the ancient stone wall as her sister. Fili stood in the low-lit corridor and stared after her. She still didn't seem particularly fond of him, but at least she had talked to him.

"Well, at least it's progress," he shrugged.

 

****

 

The Mountain state of Erebor had heard many shouts of outrage and screams of terror over the centuries, but none were quite like those that were heard from the bedchambers of the Council members when they awoke to find their hair had turned forest green overnight.

"So wonderful for you all to finally be showing your support on my nephews impending nuptials to Lady Tauriel," was all the wise King Under the Mountian would say on the subject.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I hope you liked it.  
> Sorry I couldn't think of a title for this chapter. If I get any good ideas I'll change it.
> 
>  
> 
> Next Week...the last final chapter of Little Thieves and Spies.


	20. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of Little Thieves and Spies...

Over the following few years life for those Under the Mountain changed somewhat and despite everything Nori couldn't help but feel very proud of his family and all they had accomplished since they first set out to reclaim their lost mountain home all those years ago. Once his family had been among the lowest of the lows, avoided, shunned and feared by everyone else.

Now, however, they were one of the strongest, richest, most influential families in all Erebor. The argument could even be made that they held more power than the Royal family. No longer did they have to hide away secretly in the shadows. They could stand tall and proud of who they were and the family name they held.

Dori was made _'The Master of Ceremonies'_ and took great delight in organising and arranging all the formal events and celebrations that occurred. As part of his job he was the one who played host to all the visiting guests and dignitaries that stayed in the palace. His was the first face they would see when they arrived Under the Mountain.

Ori had found his One in Dwalin, much to Nori's annoyance, but he could not find it in himself to begrudge his little brother the love and happiness that being with the grumpy, old guard brought him. Ori was promoted by Thorin to be _'The Keeper of Records'_ , which made him the youngest holder of the title in the history of the Mountain. His name would go down in the history books as one of the greatest scholars of the age, of that Nori was sure.

Tori had ingratiated herself with the Council and fast set herself up as a political adversary to be feared and avoided. The title of _'Acting Royal Spymistress'_ was made official, which meant the Council members could no long derogatively refer to her _'Acting'_ status and that Nori no longer had to sit through boring council meetings, something he never had done to begin with. Whilst Nori wasn't best pleased that she ended up marrying the pompous little oaf, he accepted it because he saw how much Gimli cared about her. That didn't mean he wasn't above threatening the dwarrow's hairy little ass if he ever hurt her.

Kori spent a few years running around Middle-Earth, sometimes one her own and sometimes in the company of the thrice damned wizard Gandalf. Whenever she returned to the Mountain she would let Fili chase her about for a while before disappearing off to who knew where again. Eventually she returned, announced that she was staying for good and began a proper courtship with Fili. It wasn't long ere they were married and before the crown was even placed on her head the people were already calling her _'Queen'_. She had stolen their hearts just as she had that of the Crown Prince. Of course, her very public political position didn't mean she stopped poking at things in the shadows and Nori wouldn't have had it any other way.

Lori adored the time she spent as Balin's apprentice and took a position as a librarian upon her graduation. Ever the most studious of his daughters, Nori was relieved to note that she too wrapped up in the scholarly books, ancient scrolls and dusty tomes in the library than in the myriad of suitors that attempted to woo her affections once her family connections were made public. Content with the place she had carved for herself in the world, Lori showed no ambition to alter her current situation, which was fine with Nori. After all, someone in their family had to turn out normal, right?

Rori, sweet, adorable, little Rori grew up much too fast for everybody's liking. Her older sisters took much delight in the look of sheet white shock that would come over Nori's face whenever Rori would do or say something he felt was too grown up for his baby girl. To everyone's mutual relief and satisfaction she ended up taking a great interest in the work her Papa Bofur did with fixing the various trade agreements, particularly those that had been put in place with the Shire via Bilbo. This didn't mean however that she didn't do the odd bit of work for her Adad, just that no one really knew about that save for Nori, Tori and Kori. Nori was more than pleased with the way that Rori had turned out, even if she had picked up the terrible habit of running around everywhere barefoot from Bilbo.

Bofur, his One, was eventually made 'Master of Trade' as Erebor's connections with the rest of Middle-Earth grew. His open and approachable manner, fairness and honesty made him the perfect person for the job. He got along with everyone and helped strengthen the bonds of trust and friendship between the many Kingdoms.

Nori maintained his position as Royal Spymaster, even if his eldest daughter now held that title instead of him. He continued to work from the shadows, but was much more careful after the whole poisoning thing that happened. Now that Kori wasn't around as much he had more work than before, but he enjoyed it none the less. It took him some time and effort, but soon enough Nori had eyes and ears all the way from Forlindon in the west to deserts of Harad in the east. Not even Gandalf the Grey or Saruman the White could boast of such a well connected and accurate network.

Nori didn't think he could be any prouder of his family. They had made sure that the history books would not forget the name 'Ri. They each held positions of power and influence, some of them in very obvious ways and other in not so obvious ways. Any way that you looked at it, things had turned out pretty good for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this fic. I hope you enjoyed it.  
> This is the end of Little Thieves and Spies, however I will be continuing the adventures of the 'Ri sisters & co. in Moments and Memories, which I will begin posting in a couple of weeks.  
> What do you guys want to see from the future 'Ri sisters? Suggestions are welcome.  
> Thank you so much for all the kudos and kind comments. I love you guys.  
> Bye.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Feedback is always welcome. Please comment or kudos if you liked it. More to be coming soon.


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